Showing vs. Telling

On my post Relationship Advice?, Anonymous had this to say:

Can I ask you a question, though, from a non-writer? What exactly do you mean by telling instead of showing? How do you distinguish between the two? Since a book is all about the words, how does an author show and not tell?

Excellent question, Anonymous. May I add, what a beautiful name! Has it been passed down through generations of family members? Bwah, ha, ha, ha. Seriously, I will take any friends I can get, even if they need to hide their identities.

Let me give you two lines that could be placed at the same point in a plot.

OPTION A: He was angry.

OPTION B: He kicked the door.

Both very simple sentences; both start with a subject-verb combination. Which would you pick as a reader? Would you rather be told what to think (A) or "see" an action from which you must deduce how the character feels (B)?

The key to good writing is setting the scene so thoroughly that the reader knows exactly what emotion the character feels. If the scene is a teenage boy being told he's grounded, his kicking the door probably is out of anger. Let's take the same boy, but put him in a different scene. A woman and her baby are trapped in the neighboring apartment with flames leaping from the roof. The teenager kicks the door. He kicks again, harder, and the door breaks open. His kick is now a heroic action and we can feel the adrenaline rushing through his body, taste the bravery on his breath.

There's a huge trend in Christian Fiction to remove all speaker attributions. He said and she shouted are a dying breed because of the very same thinking: Are we going to tell the readers who's talking or are we going to show them? Are we going to tell how the words were said or create conversation that shows the volume and tone of the words?

Anyone else want to chime in? All this was very hard to grasp as a beginning writer and I guarantee you'll still find points of telling in my books where I need to move the action along or cut out the boring play-by-plays. (He reached out for the receiver, lifted it, brought it to his ear, and said, "Hello" = He answered the phone.)

Maybe it's better, as a reader, not to understand the difference. Maybe you'll enjoy more books without yelling at the page or taking a red pen to the print. Maybe you should forget you ever looked at this post.

I wish you...Happy reading!

My Bizarre World

I found this comic especially funny because I'm married to a police officer and I've read some of his reports!

Everyone's a critic, right?

Relationship Advice?

Do you ever put a book away before you reach the end?

Editors say an author must hook a reader within the first couple of pages. True for some people, maybe, but not for me. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and try my hardest to fall into your imaginary world. I want to escape reality and I'm hungry for the opportunity.

I'm in the first third of a book that I've heard many, many people rave about. They must be talking about the story and not the writing style because the entire thing is told, not shown. Yet the story's not grabbing me, either! The last few times I've had a minute to read, I've had to force myself to pick it up.

Telling instead of showing is a major no-no and this is a well-known author. It's driving me crazy! I keep trying to like the book, but I can't get into it. This is actually my second attempt. I shelved it about a year ago, deciding I might not be in the right mood for it at the time. Well, I don't think I've been in the same mood for so long.

I've got to break up with the book.

Instead of a pickup line, I'll use a dump line. It's not me; it's you!

But breaking up is hard to do. I've only stopped before the end of two other books in my entire life--once for moral reasons and the other time because the first five chapters of a HUGELY popular novelist were all telling.

Adding to my angst...I had a package in my PO Box yesterday. Return address of Zondervan. My first reaction?

Did they hear about my new book? My agent hasn't even sent it out to them yet! Could it--

Of course not, silly fiction writer. It was an advance copy of a book from a very talented author who won't be telling me anything. She'll transport me into a whole new world full of people I can't wait to meet. Then I'll write a wonderful review for her so others can enjoy her world as well.

Not only do I have to break up with Current Book, but I'm lusting after another! Do I keep reading? Or do I give myself the freedom to stop?

Proud to be an Oregonian

And the survey says...? (In keeping with the theme of my last two posts...)

Portland has the nicest drivers while the rudest hang out in Miami, Florida.

Locals have been back and forth on the news, expressing opinions on both sides of the issue. I'm sure bad driving exists everywhere and we can all attest to that, but I have been impressed with drivers' behaviors around here. My grandmother, who recently moved to Oregon from Lake Tahoe, admires how polite people are when they're behind the wheel. On freeways, I'm actually able to keep a safe stopping distance between my car and the car in front of me without someone cutting into the space.

We were up in Seattle a week ago for the Seattle Pacific University Writer's Conference and those people are nuts! I don't know why...maybe excessive amounts of caffeine pulsing in their bloodstream?

************************************

Here's am admission of how gullible I am.

A fellow OCW author says at the conference: I wonder if there's a good spot around here to get coffee.

Me: I don't drink it, but there's a cute, student-run shop in the building over there.

Her: [smirking] That was a joke. We're in the birthplace of Starbucks!

I may be clueless, but I'm always ready to help.

I'm a Survivor

For those of you who are planning to watch the finale of Survivor and haven't yet found the time...come back and read this post later.

[Spoiler Warning] I was incredibly shocked and saddened when Dreamz did not honor his deal with Yau-man! Short recap: Yau-man gave Dreamz a $60,000 truck in return for a "gentleman's" promise that Dreamz would try his best to win immunity at Final Four and then give the immunity necklace to Yau.

Dreamz swore on his son's life. He swore to God. And then he reneged on the deal, excusing himself with, "It's just a game!"

Last night, after we watched the show, my husband flipped to our devotional reading concerning who can stand in the Holy place. "He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false." Psalm 24:4

My first reaction was to laugh. God knew which devotional should be read on that day when He allowed its publication. I truly believe He orchestrates every little detail. He is not a hands off God!

Alas, I am not to judge. We've all lifted up our soul to idol. We've all sold our integrity for a certain price. We've all convinced ourselves the promises we made didn't matter. That's what worries me the most. Dreamz has lied about his intentions so often I think he believes the lies himself. He says he never meant to give Yau the necklace. If that's true, why did he tell the camera he couldn't wait for his son to watch him keep his word? Why did he cry when he choose to keep it?

No, I'm not buying your story, Dreamz. I hope you find the courage to admit what you did was wrong. Jeff Probst may have said it was a "wise" move, but a better descriptor is "strategic." The best decision in life are made with our hearts, not our heads. But thanks for the reminder to be on the look out for Greed and its nasty sisters.

Funny side note: My father-in-law bought a '08 Ford truck. He got a letter from Ford with a $1,000 check inside thanking him for being the first person in the United States to by their newest vehicle. I had no idea automobile manufacturers did this! It's especially nice since it's still 2007 so this truck can't even exist in reality. ;-) Congrats, Dad!

Winning Family Feud

As I posted in my last blog, my family won on Family Feud. Jill Elizabeth Nelson asked if that put us on Easy Street. I'm sure she was completely serious and I will answer as such. :-)

It was a complete God thing. I remember praying in the car in the parking lot just before we walked onto the studio's grounds. We asked the Lord to bless our time, to help us act in a way that brought him glory, and--if it was in his plan--that we might win the money. As we were praying, Shaq pulled up to the gate on a motorcycle for an appearance on Jay Leno. The LA Lakers had just won the championship.

We'd already been through one day of auditions and had been reminded again and again that being called back did not mean we were actually going to be on the show. If I'm remembering correctly, we were the 13th team picked that day. We filmed our show right after lunch. Once we won the "big" money, we were ushered into a little room where we signed the legal documents and were deposited outside the studio.

Still, nothing was guaranteed. We wouldn't receive the money unless the show aired, so we prayed for world peace. Didn't want breaking news of a war to cover our broadcast! The day finally came, our show aired, we were instant celebrities, rocketed into fame that only a low budget game show can bring. However, when the checks arrived, they were much smaller than we'd anticipated. We'd been taxed as employees! By the time we got that straightened out and a refund arrived, it'd been almost a year since we'd shot the show.

The replacement checks arrived on Feb. 15th, my husband's birthday. I was admitted into the hospital the next day in premature labor. I spent the next ten weeks on total bedrest. This was a time in our lives when our grocery money was however much I made tutoring math. If not for the money coming when it did.... Well, like I said, it was a God thing!

Eight Random Things

My friends, Susan Meissner and Winter, tagged me yesterday. I've never done this before, but it seems pretty painless. :-)

First, these are the rules:

1. Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.

2. People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.

3. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.

4. Don't forget to leave them a comment telling them they're tagged, and to read your blog.

Without further ado, here's what I came up with:

1.) If my junior high friends would call and ask me to go somewhere and I was in the middle of a good book, I would ask my parents to ground me so I'd have to stay home.

2.) (Strongly related to #1.) One day, as I was getting ready for bed I screamed, "Mom, my belly button is bleeding!" I'd grown up on the old Bill Cosby comedy tape where he said if you play with your belly button too much, it will pop open, all the air will leak out, and you'll end up as a withered balloon. Hours before I'd been reading, curled up in a chair with a handful of chocolate chips. Apparently, one of those chocolate chips had fallen into my shirt, caught in my navel, and melted. Despite my greatest fears, I was not dying.

3.) My nails never break. I have to clip them or they grow evilly long. They were also pretty much the only part of my body I liked in junior high. If I had nail polish on, people would try to rip my nails off my hands because they doubted my word and believed they were Lee Press Ons.

4.) I do not like making lunches. I would rather cook up a whole dinner than custom-make my family's sandwiches.

5.) I love pickles!

6.) I do my own taxes.

7.) I'm a blue belt in Taekwon-do.

8) In 2000, I led our family to victory on Family Feud. If you ever want to watch the video, just come on by. Or, if you ever see me in person, I can reenact the hysterical laughing, jumping, and clapping, thereby saving you a half hour.

I'm tagging Sherrie Ashcraft, Angela Hunt, Dana McCall, Sandra Glahn, Robin Lee Hatcher, Randy Ingermanson, Dianne, and Brandilyn Collins.

P.S. Dianne just tagged me with a similar one, so we've already reciprocated!