Comments on: Showing vs. Telling—Mirror, Mirror on the Wall http://kayedacus.com/2007/01/17/showing-vs-telling%e2%80%94mirror-mirror-on-the-wall/ Thu, 17 May 2012 03:11:45 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Flannery’s Favorites–Day 2 « KayeDacus.com http://kayedacus.com/2007/01/17/showing-vs-telling%e2%80%94mirror-mirror-on-the-wall/#comment-24067 Wed, 11 May 2011 05:02:54 +0000 http://kayedacus.wordpress.com/2007/01/17/showing-vs-telling%e2%80%94mirror-mirror-on-the-wall/#comment-24067 [...] vs. Telling Showing vs. Telling—An Introduction Showing vs. Telling—The First Date Showing vs. Telling—Mirror, Mirror on the Wall Showing vs. Telling—In the Eye of the Beholder Showing vs. Telling—Feeeeeeeeeelings . . . [...]

]]> By: Debunking Writing Myths: “Showing Is Always Better than Telling” « KayeDacus.com http://kayedacus.com/2007/01/17/showing-vs-telling%e2%80%94mirror-mirror-on-the-wall/#comment-23020 Tue, 05 Apr 2011 05:02:48 +0000 http://kayedacus.wordpress.com/2007/01/17/showing-vs-telling%e2%80%94mirror-mirror-on-the-wall/#comment-23020 [...] (January/February 2007) Showing vs. Telling—An Introduction Showing vs. Telling—The First Date Showing vs. Telling—Mirror, Mirror on the Wall Showing vs. Telling—In the Eye of the Beholder Showing vs. Telling—Feeeeeeeeeelings . . . [...]

]]> By: Perspective (or, Don’t Tell Me a Closet’s Too Small) « KayeDacus.com http://kayedacus.com/2007/01/17/showing-vs-telling%e2%80%94mirror-mirror-on-the-wall/#comment-16338 Mon, 12 Apr 2010 15:30:23 +0000 http://kayedacus.wordpress.com/2007/01/17/showing-vs-telling%e2%80%94mirror-mirror-on-the-wall/#comment-16338 [...] comes to setting details. (I’ve already discussed this when it comes to describing characters here and [...]

]]> By: Writing Series Spotlight: Showing vs. Telling and POV « KayeDacus.com http://kayedacus.com/2007/01/17/showing-vs-telling%e2%80%94mirror-mirror-on-the-wall/#comment-15755 Tue, 02 Mar 2010 06:43:28 +0000 http://kayedacus.wordpress.com/2007/01/17/showing-vs-telling%e2%80%94mirror-mirror-on-the-wall/#comment-15755 [...] (January/February 2007) Showing vs. Telling—An Introduction Showing vs. Telling—The First Date Showing vs. Telling—Mirror, Mirror on the Wall Showing vs. Telling—In the Eye of the Beholder Showing vs. Telling—Feeeeeeeeeelings . . . [...]

]]> By: Showing vs. Telling Refresher « KayeDacus.com http://kayedacus.com/2007/01/17/showing-vs-telling%e2%80%94mirror-mirror-on-the-wall/#comment-11581 Mon, 16 Feb 2009 05:11:02 +0000 http://kayedacus.wordpress.com/2007/01/17/showing-vs-telling%e2%80%94mirror-mirror-on-the-wall/#comment-11581 [...] Showing vs. Telling—Mirror, Mirror on the Wall “…In this day and age when the standard for fiction is to write with a limited POV—1st person or 3rd person limited (in the head of only one character for a scene)—describing what the character looks like is tricky. In 3rd person, it’s a little easier because you can “see” your characters from someone else’s POV. In limited POV, you can only show what your POV character sees, hears, smells, tastes, feels, and experiences. …” [...]

]]> By: Vicki T. http://kayedacus.com/2007/01/17/showing-vs-telling%e2%80%94mirror-mirror-on-the-wall/#comment-174 Mon, 22 Jan 2007 02:35:10 +0000 http://kayedacus.wordpress.com/2007/01/17/showing-vs-telling%e2%80%94mirror-mirror-on-the-wall/#comment-174 Great point! Going back to beef that up now. Thanks! Can’t wait for more. :) No pressure.

]]> By: Kaye Dacus http://kayedacus.com/2007/01/17/showing-vs-telling%e2%80%94mirror-mirror-on-the-wall/#comment-173 Sun, 21 Jan 2007 22:46:16 +0000 http://kayedacus.wordpress.com/2007/01/17/showing-vs-telling%e2%80%94mirror-mirror-on-the-wall/#comment-173 Vicki–the question that immediately formed in my mind when I read your paragraph is: what color curls on the pillow? By comparing the baby’s curls to her own (his hair is the same color as hers–or as hers used to be before she started coloring it to hide the premature grays) or contrasting it to hers (she wished her own dishwater hair were the same color as his golden curls), you describe what the baby looks like while also giving a little description of your POV character without saying “she pushed a loose strand of her blonde hair behind her ear” or something like that.

Great excerpt, by the way–I wanted to know what was going to happen next!

]]> By: Vicki T. http://kayedacus.com/2007/01/17/showing-vs-telling%e2%80%94mirror-mirror-on-the-wall/#comment-172 Sun, 21 Jan 2007 21:47:28 +0000 http://kayedacus.wordpress.com/2007/01/17/showing-vs-telling%e2%80%94mirror-mirror-on-the-wall/#comment-172 Oops…I see that paragraphs don’t show up on here. Do not, please, that the last post is not intended to be one long paragraph in my ms. Thought I’d clarify so you don’t think I should bag showing vs. telling and learn the definition of a paragraph first.

]]> By: Vicki T. http://kayedacus.com/2007/01/17/showing-vs-telling%e2%80%94mirror-mirror-on-the-wall/#comment-171 Sun, 21 Jan 2007 21:45:59 +0000 http://kayedacus.wordpress.com/2007/01/17/showing-vs-telling%e2%80%94mirror-mirror-on-the-wall/#comment-171 Okay, I’ll take the leap here, as no one is sending their “stuff” to be subjected to scrutiny. I went through chapter one and discovered that I don’t really tell what anyone looks like. I think I like the idea of them forming their own opinions a bit at this point. From chapter one, the closest thing I could find for description was this one descibing the lead’s son and then an action bit…have at it. :) (Gulp)

Tsuh, Tsuh, Tsuh…
Maliya’s heart swelled as she listened to Greyson smacking the ring and middle fingers of his right hand. She loved watching him sleep. It seemed to be the only time her young son wasn’t moving. At twenty-two months, he sometimes seemed so big during the day, but in the magical moonlight he was still her baby. Soft curls splayed across his Spiderman pillowcase with an attitude of their own, defying control, much like their owner.
Mmmm…baby shampoo. She could smell that all day. She bent to kiss his forehead. Maliya froze when Greyson stopped slurping. Then almost as quickly, the melodic rhythm began again. That was her cue. Like a well-trained soldier in a military maneuver, she tiptoed out of his room in a zigzag fashion. Careful to avoid the familiar creaky spots on the floor, she reached the door and pulled it shut behind her.

]]> By: Georgiana D http://kayedacus.com/2007/01/17/showing-vs-telling%e2%80%94mirror-mirror-on-the-wall/#comment-170 Sun, 21 Jan 2007 14:00:41 +0000 http://kayedacus.wordpress.com/2007/01/17/showing-vs-telling%e2%80%94mirror-mirror-on-the-wall/#comment-170 Oh I definitely tell in this area. Didn’t even cross my mind not to, LOL. AND, I have to confess that I don’t do tons of character description, so it’s something for me to work on. Great examples!

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