⑤ ✍️ Writing Tip: Show, Don't Tell

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When you write, try to describe the parts sometimes instead of the whole. Show, don't tell. This can make your scene more human, and why? Because when a human sees something like a flower, they don't see flower. They see petals, bright colors, stems and sepals... and it signals to them flower. 

What do you see?

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What do you see?

Your writing can link the reader to the object, too, the same way aggregates link the perceiver and the perceived in real life. This is particularly effective for describing 1. how characters feel, and 2. objects with which the characters aren't familiar.

The benefit for describing objects in this way is pretty straight-forward. You can make a reader understand how a character views an object from their perspective, instead of letting the reader rely on their own perspective. Such a trick helps the reader grow closer to your characters and to the world. 

"Show, Don't Tell" can be effective for describing how a character feels, because it helps the reader feel like the character. By describing what something is and how a character reacts to it, a reader can understand the character's perspective even if that reader doesn't share their perspective.

 By describing what something is and how a character reacts to it, a reader can understand the character's perspective even if that reader doesn't share their perspective

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Showing and telling can help with something else, which is space. "Showing" spaces out the action. And that leads us to our next chapter...





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