Showing & telling - Laurie Alberts

Write vibrant scenes and essential summaries

"Show-don't tell." How many times have you heard this standard bit of writing advice? It's so common in writing courses and critiques that it has become a cliche. Writers are often told to write scenes, dramatize, cut exposition, cut summary-but it's misguided advice. The truth is good writing almost always requires both showing and telling. The trick is finding the right balance of scene and summary-the two basic components of creative prose.

Showing and Telling shows you how to employ each of these essential techniques in the appropriate places within a narrative. You'll learn how to:

• Write scenes and cut exposition
• Compress time and summarize background information
• Create graceful transitions
• Effectively inject interpretation
• And more!

Complete with examples from bestsellers and interactive exercises, this comprehensive guide offers an in-depth look at scene development, the role of reflection in storytelling, the art of summarizing, and how to bring it all together.