‘Always show, not tell,’ is a big fat lie. If you always show, you’ll have half a novel of descriptive words and flowy sentences that will be hard to read.
Here is a quick tip:
Show emotion.
Tell feelings.
Don’t tell us ‘she was sad.’ Show us- ‘Her lip trembled, and her eyes burned as she tried to keep her tears at bay.’
Don’t show us ‘her eyelids were heavy- too heavy. Her limbs could barely function and she couldn’t stop yawning.’ Tell us – ‘she felt tired that morning.’
Showing emotion will bring the reader closer to the characters, to understand their reactions better. But I don’t need to read about how slow she was moving due to tiredness.
Likewise, when you do show, keep it to a max three sentences. Two paragraphs of ‘how she was sad,’ with no dialogue or inner thought is just as boring.
Tag: Helpful tips!
Cheep and easy ways to find a basis for your plot.
When you have characters:
- What does your character aspire to do or become? Making that aspiration really hard for them to reach.
- What does your character love? Take it away from them and make them earn it back.
- What does your character hate? Bind them too it and make them work to get rid of it.
When you have a world:
- What is the most chaotic thing that can happen to this world’s politics? Find the character this chaos would effect the most and see what they do about it.
- What is the most dangerous thing that can happen within this magic system? Figure out who would come to stop or reverse it and see what they do.
- Who is the most damaging person in this world and what are they doing? Figure out who of those they hurt might rise up and defeat them.
When you have only spite:
- What story do you absolutely hate the execution of? Take the very basic concept of its plot and build it into the story you wish it produced.
- What plot structure do you enjoy but wish writers would be more original with? Take it and then throw a dozen spins on it.
** Remember to mix and match for more elaborate plot structures. Carry on this format with your own tricks to digging up basic plot structures!
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