If there is one guiding light in excellent writing, the one thing almost everyone agrees on, is “show, don’t tell.” Telling is one of the most-common mistakes new authors make and one of the biggest reasons their manuscripts get rejected. It is also one of the biggest reasons readers give up on a book. If you stopped reading a book because it failed to hold your interest, there is a chance the author was telling, rather than showing.
Once you master this fundamental technique of writing, you will have a stronger emotional impact on your readers, they will like your characters more, and they will be more likely to finish reading your book. They will even be more likely to recommend your book to a friend!
We have a special guest to help us learn more about this technique. He is the author of fourteen traditionally published books, author of two self-published books, and a popular speaker at conferences around the country. Code of Silence, book one of his contemporary suspense series, was included in the Booklist Online “Top Ten Crime Novels for Youth” list.
Tim Shoemaker, welcome back to the Christian Publishing Show!
Links:
Sponsor: Christian Writers Market Guide
The Christian Writers Market Guide 2020 is the most comprehensive and highly recommended resource on the market for finding an agent, an editor, a publisher, a publicist, a writing coach, or a place to sell whatever you are writing. Wherever you are on the writing spectrum – from beginner to seasoned professional – the Guide will help you find what you are looking for. Over 1,000 curated listings, including more than 200 book publishers, 150 periodical publishers, 40 agents, 200 freelance editors and designers, podcasts, and much more. Includes a denominational index.
You can get it in Print or Online.
The post Show, Don’t Tell With Tim Shoemaker appeared first on Christian Publishing Show.
Marketing with the National Day Calendar
Thomas and Tim,
Thank you for this important program on Showing Not Telling. It’s one of the writing fundamentals that every writer needs to learn whether they write fiction or nonfiction. Storytelling is important in either aspect and critical to keep readers reading in our distracted world.
Terry
author of 10 Publishing Myths, Insights Every Author Needs to Succeed
Thank you for this most helpful interview. The examples served to make the point clearly.
Pages of stories, characters, and their circumstances eager to be shared, wait, so a brief but glad thank you for the added layer of knowledge on Show/Don’t Tell. Changes are happening at this desk.
Great to hear Tim on the show!