The words "feel/felt" are a sure sign that you're telling instead of showing. If you notice it creeping up in your prose, find another way to express the same thing.
Example:
He felt like he was going to pass out
Replace with -
The floor seemed to sway under his feet.
'Always show, not tell,' is also 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's 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 maximum of 3 sentences. Two paragraphs of 'how she was sad', with no dialogue or inner thought is just boring.
YOU ARE READING
The Do's and Don'ts of Writing a Story
HumorFor all you amateur writers on Wattpad that want to write a smashing book. Here are the top tips. There are four different sections in here: PLOT - anything incredibly relevant to a book. The backbone. Everything that, usually, you always need. LANG...
