![]() ![]() Let’s look at a few samples of telling and showing. If your protagonist has a different personality from yours and might react another way, write that instead. What would your body language look like? How would you react? Are your actions consistent with your protagonist’s personality? If so, incorporate them into your writing. As the saying goes, “Actions speak louder than words.” Take a few moments to think about how you personally would react to a situation you’ve placed your protagonist in. The second example also shows how the use of opposing words and tone can show passive-aggressive communication in characters’ dialogue.īody language-We tend to use body language more than words to communicate with others on a daily basis. “Geeze, I’m fine! Okay?” We can see that Jess is actually not fine even though her words say she is. However, if we read: Jess let out a sigh. Take, for instance, the phrase “I’m fine.” Tone-As we know from experience, it’s not just the words we use to communicate our emotions or mood, but also the tone of voice we use when we speak. ![]() Not every person is direct about their emotions either, so decide early on if one or some of your characters take a more passive-aggressive approach in communicating their feelings. Words-Much like we use our own words to let others know we are angry, sad, or happy, writers can use dialogue to help characters communicate how they feel. So, what can writers do to better show characters’ emotions and moods? They can pull from real life, more specifically, they can use words, tone, and body language to convey emotions and moods for their characters. Writers are quick to tell readers exactly how characters feel or what mood they are in, but the reality is-humans aren’t always self-aware enough in specific moments to define exactly how they feel or what kind of mood they are in. You might think writers struggle more with showing and telling when it comes to scene-building, but more often than not, I notice telling creep into stories when dealing with characters’ feelings and moods. ![]() Telling, or summarizing, any part of your story for readers does not allow tension to build because you remove the ability for your readers to emotionally connect. A huge part of building that tension is giving readers the opportunity to feel positive or negative reactions to characters and their emotions, as well as situations and their outcomes. In order for a book to provide a great experience, writers must build tension from the first page to the climax of the story. When we take it upon ourselves to tell readers what happens instead of presenting them with scenes to imagine in their minds, we inevitably strip our writing of the one thing our readers are looking for-an experience. It’s one writing rule that applies to every genre because it makes or breaks the reading experience for your end-user-the reader. Whether you’ve been writing for decades or are just embarking on your first writing journey, you’ve likely heard the phrase “show, don’t tell” ad nauseum. ![]()
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