What to Show, Tell, and Omit, Part 1

In a recent writing workshop, a participant said she had difficulty knowing what to tell or show in a story and what to leave out. Writers, both experienced and novice, deal with the same problem.

Here are a few tips I’ve picked up in the thirty years I’ve been calling myself a writer:

Begin a story as late in the plot as possible. Start with the situation, as it is happening, that changes the character’s life. Opening with an action scene is a surefire way to engage the reader. Maybe the action is ambiguous, in order to add suspense or mystery. Or introduce an interesting character that captures the attention of the audience and holds it in a tight grip.

I usually write the first draft without too much concern for voice, focusing on plot,  characterization, and conflict. Later, as I revise, I concentrate on voice. At this point, I change much of the telling parts to showing by adding sensory description and details. If I’ve included a block of backstory, I revise to feed it to the audience, bit by bit. Long chunks of backstory slow the action and often becomes boring to the reader, so tread lightly.

In my next blog, I’ll continue with more tips.

Call for Submissions for Young Writers:

Amazing Kids E-zine. This educational non-profit publishes work of kids between the ages of 5-13 as well as teens up to the age of 17. To learn more visit their submission guidelines here. They publish a wider variety of work than most traditional journals and are interested in non-fiction, fiction, poems, videos, reviews, and more.

Submission guidelines at http://mag.amazing-kids.org/get-involved/write-for-us/

Call for Submissions for Adult Writers:

Chicken Soup for the Soul. “You Go, Girl!” This call is looking for true stories designed to help young women feel stronger, more capable, and more confident. Limit 1,200 words. Payment is $200 and ten copies of the anthology that contains your story. 

Deadline December 15, 2019.

Submissions guidelines at https://www.chickensoup.com/story-submissions/possible-book-topics

Nancy Kelly Allen has written 50+ children’s books and a cookbook, SPIRIT OF KENTUCKY: BOURBON COOKBOOK.

Comment or check out the blog at https://nancykellyallen.blogspot.com/

Sensory Description: Smell/Calls for submissions

The sense of smell has a strong emotional pull. Certain scents linger in our minds for years. Thinking back to my childhood, I remember how a new doll smelled or the delectable whiff of Mom’s chocolate cake baking filled me with scrumptious anticipation. Decades later, all it takes is a fanciful thought about those aromas and I feel warm and cozy. When you write a description about the smell of a cake baking, the reader will be instantly transported back in time to his/her own memories of a sweet smelling kitchen. When readers connect the story to their own experiences, they make an emotional investment that draws them deeper into the plotline.

The sense of smell can also be used to get a character to remember a specific detail or to transition into a flashback. The smell of fresh-baked bread spreads a smile over our faces and one hint of a skunk spray has us running for cover, yelling puuuuuuuuu. Does your story take place on a farm? Let the reader smell the barn. Or the hay. Or the flowers.

Using smell in narrative scenes is a way to stir up emotion in characters and readers. Through our senses we encounter daily life, whether we enter a musty basement or breathe a honeysuckle-scented breeze. Create characters that reflect real life through descriptive language.

Call for submissions for adult writers:

· Gotham Writers’ Workshop has launched a “91-Word Memoir Writing Contest.” This contest “celebrates longtime Gotham student and friend Norma Crosier, who died in July five days shy of her 91st birthday….She embraced the principle of memoir – that it is not the story of the writer’s entire life, but rather one story among many.” Prizes: “The winner will receive a 10-week workshop, $91 cash, and bragging rights.”
Deadline: October 15, 2012.
Submission guidelines at
http://www.writingclasses.com/ContestPages/91W.php
Call for submissions for young writers:

Cyberkids. To submit your work, email it to: editor@cyberkids.com. In the email, tell us your name, age and country. If you are sending artwork, save the art in JPEG or TIFF format if possible, and attach it to the email. We do not pay for submissions, but if we use your work, we will send you an email telling you when it will be published.

Submission guidelines at http://www.cyberkids.com/he/html/submit.html

Check out more contests on my blog: http://nancykellyallen.blogspot.com/

Visual Images

One great way to stimulate the imagination and creative process is through a guided visual tour. If you’re a teacher, ask students to close their eyes. If you’re a writer, just close your eyes and become your own tour guide. Ask questions that inspire visual images of a setting, object, or person. Imagine a trip. You are traveling. What is the type of transportation you’re using? Car? Foot power? Plane? Train? Boat? How comfortable is the transportation? How does it sound? What is the color? How fast are you traveling?

Imagine that you have reached your destination. Look around. What do you see? Buildings? Trees? People? What do the buildings look like? Are the trees like those you have seen? How are the people dressed?

Listen to the sounds? Do you hear people talking? Can you understand the language? Do you hear other sounds? Are the sounds familiar?

Reach out and touch something. Does it feel hard? Soft? Rough? Smooth?

Is there something edible? How does it taste?

Take a deep breath. What do you smell? Do you like the odor or aroma? How would you describe it?

Your trip is now over and you are back where you started. The sensory descriptions form mental pictures that help writers describe settings, events, objects, and people. Use words to express the visual images you created on your imaginary journey so readers can see the story the way you see it. Create word pictures using similes and metaphors. Think of your story as a movie. Picture what your characters look like, where they live, what they do, and how they talk.

Do you have a favorite method of developing sensory images? If so, pass it along. I’d love to hear from you.