SHOW DON’T TELL by SANDRA GERTH
Show Don’t Tell is a short, chock-full-of-information primer written by a lady who is also an editor. It takes time to master the techniques she teaches and I think the book should be part of every author’s library. It is one of five books in her Writers’ Guide series.
Ms. Gerth teaches showing through description, emotions, dialogue, and judicious revealing of backstory. This book also discusses overshowing and when telling is better.
Helpful exercises are included at the end of each chapter. In addition to those, chapter 13 consists entirely of exercises, followed by a chapter of possible solutions.
My favorite go-to chapter when editing is the “Nine Red Flags for Telling.” We all find one or more of these in our writing. This is an excellent reference to keep handy.
I am also partial to the “Eight Ways to Reveal Emotion Without Telling” and the section about descriptions doing double duty.
Check out Show Don’t Tell. It is beneficial for almost everybody.
P.S. – Thank you to Terry Segan, a fellow author, for recommending this book to me.
Glory Wade, Author 