Simple yet incredibly helpful advice. I have carried so much anxiety in my prose thinking "This feels like a screenplay rather than a novel" sometimes. The times it doesn't is- and i didn't consciously know this- when i show instead of tell. Every writer has their own unique voice in showing whereas in telling nearly everyone can write identical lines of "I walked the dog. I took the dog for a walk. The dog and I went for a walk" all those are telling with no personality.
The art of showing is in how you convey the telling of what you want the audience to understand without outright saying it. It's all about encoding subtext. An author that is showing is dancing around the telling without using using the telling words.
Hello Miss Weiland, I have read all your books (almost all) so far, so easy to understand with simple vocabulary and I love the way you approach all the subjects, I will definitely continue following you. Greetings from Brazil.
Very helpful post. I often get caught in the “telling” trap. I write allot of technical documents (engineer) and I have to switch gears when im trying to write prose. Happy Birthday! Clearly you’re enjoying the mountains. You’re glowing!
I've always struggled a bit with writing prose that isn't too terse or minimal, or in some cases the "white room" effect. I somehow manage mammoth manuscript word counts but feel like I struggle with prose the most. Crafting sentences that pop off the page or using better metaphors, etc. Thank you for hitting on this topic. Also, your recent blog post about LoTR and the impact it had on you was so very relatable and moving to read! I read through the books in 2001/2002 with the film release and it also had a profound impact on me at the time. Thank you for sharing your personal story around those books.
Wonderful video, Katie. This is my favorite of those you've posted lately and the mountain habitat is only part of the reason. You touched on so many of the approaches to making prose come to life. Writers who take these and write, and rewrite, will see results. I'm akin to your osmosis approach. I've typed multiple chapters from various authors to study how they construct their books. How many words are in a line, a sentence, a paragraph, a page, how much dialogue. Very helpful.
So very true and helpful. Relieved to hear some of my concerns reinforced. Added a book to my DNF shelf today for endless lists of past events summarised relentlessly, felt like nothing more than a memory test waiting to happen. Enjoy the writing retreat! Jelly!
I used to have a problem connecting with readers before I understood "Show & Tell", and before I got how powerfull good dialog could be. I have no problem with flashfiction and short-short stories, but I struggle with plotting a novel. I'm a pantser with plotting delusions.
I always knew that for me, the easy part would be creating compelling stories and the hard part would be telling them in a way that people would like to read them. The key for me, and it took getting clobbered about it by my first editor, is to put yourself fully in the place of your character and experience the scene through your five senses. For writers who are struggling with voice, I would recommend writing in first person, even if your story will eventually need to be in third person. It may be a leap too far to imagine yourself as another person and speak from that perspective in third person. I found when I wanted to write a close third person POV, it helped to write in first person, then convert it to third person. Become the character, live the scene, then write the scene. Your first draft may read like liner notes as you flesh out your story. But once you have what happens down, live the story through the character’s senses, then write it. The voice of the character won’t come through in the writing until you have lived in his skin. And sometimes, that can really hurt. Then, get a good editor who will write “more sensory detail” next to every other paragraph. Compelling writing does not just come from a facility with words and language. That’s just where it starts.
Bless you for this. It’s very easy to wander into cliff notes land, and I keep catching myself forgetting about smell, which can be extremely powerful. The thing I might add is that an author needs to climb deep in their characters skulls. This may be out of your wheelhouse, but I’m wondering if you have any tips for determining if your story is likely too big. I’m looking at this from a short story perspective, but it can be s consideration for a novel as well. Lotr in 200 hundred pages wouldn’t have worked. Enjoy your retreat. It appears to be agreeing with you - you look rested and relaxed.
I would like to ask you this one thing about your recent blog-post about despair vs hope, (and you already pointed to some ways of not doing it the wrong way, anyway!): How can any of us who ever, or never, really experienced personal despair describe, transcribe, so that others might feel, if never understand? I went into the darkness on my own, very long ago, and being male, I never (of course!) talked about it later (naturally... 😉). But that was my subjective experience, after all. Do you feel there is a common feeling of human decency that we will all tap into, when /if we read something that resonates with us on a personal level? Or if it really jars with our general feeling of well-being if nothing happens that we can notice?
I'm the opposite. Prose is easy. In fact too easy. I lack the ability to define my process or my story's structure as I do not give it conscious thought. Pantsing a short story is fine, but pantsing a novel is like circumnavigating the globe without a map. What do I do? Where do I start? Jumping in and composing as I would a short story has proven demonstrably unproductive.
I don’t mean to take you down but people who think prose is easy likely have terrible prose. Prose requires even more conscious thoughts than plot. You have to figure out how to generate curiosity in readers, tension in the scene, suspense and mysteries for the plot. You want to give readers enough info so they can follow the story but not too much that you bore readers. There are tons of other things that go into the prose that you have to constantly be aware of.
Simple yet incredibly helpful advice. I have carried so much anxiety in my prose thinking "This feels like a screenplay rather than a novel" sometimes. The times it doesn't is- and i didn't consciously know this- when i show instead of tell. Every writer has their own unique voice in showing whereas in telling nearly everyone can write identical lines of "I walked the dog. I took the dog for a walk. The dog and I went for a walk" all those are telling with no personality.
That is so cool. I just came back from a self-awarded, two-week writing retreat in the mountains as well!
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and insights.
What a pretty and smart lady. Your videos are most helpful. Thanks a books a million!
Have a wonderful retreat!’
Thanks again very helpful as usual
Happy Birthday! 😊🎉🎂
The art of showing is in how you convey the telling of what you want the audience to understand without outright saying it. It's all about encoding subtext. An author that is showing is dancing around the telling without using using the telling words.
Thank you. I'll look at some books about the voice, too. I'm sure there are some.
Thank you.
Hello Miss Weiland, I have read all your books (almost all) so far, so easy to understand with simple vocabulary and I love the way you approach all the subjects, I will definitely continue following you. Greetings from Brazil.
I enjoyed your video, and one of your comments sent me back into the story to be more descriptive with a particular part.
Thank you
Very helpful post. I often get caught in the “telling” trap. I write allot of technical documents (engineer) and I have to switch gears when im trying to write prose.
Happy Birthday! Clearly you’re enjoying the mountains. You’re glowing!
Thanks
Thanks for the helpful advice every week 😄
I've always struggled a bit with writing prose that isn't too terse or minimal, or in some cases the "white room" effect. I somehow manage mammoth manuscript word counts but feel like I struggle with prose the most. Crafting sentences that pop off the page or using better metaphors, etc. Thank you for hitting on this topic. Also, your recent blog post about LoTR and the impact it had on you was so very relatable and moving to read! I read through the books in 2001/2002 with the film release and it also had a profound impact on me at the time. Thank you for sharing your personal story around those books.
Wonderful video, Katie. This is my favorite of those you've posted lately and the mountain habitat is only part of the reason. You touched on so many of the approaches to making prose come to life. Writers who take these and write, and rewrite, will see results. I'm akin to your osmosis approach. I've typed multiple chapters from various authors to study how they construct their books. How many words are in a line, a sentence, a paragraph, a page, how much dialogue. Very helpful.
So very true and helpful. Relieved to hear some of my concerns reinforced. Added a book to my DNF shelf today for endless lists of past events summarised relentlessly, felt like nothing more than a memory test waiting to happen. Enjoy the writing retreat! Jelly!
I used to have a problem connecting with readers before I understood "Show & Tell", and before I got how powerfull good dialog could be. I have no problem with flashfiction and short-short stories, but I struggle with plotting a novel. I'm a pantser with plotting delusions.
I always knew that for me, the easy part would be creating compelling stories and the hard part would be telling them in a way that people would like to read them. The key for me, and it took getting clobbered about it by my first editor, is to put yourself fully in the place of your character and experience the scene through your five senses. For writers who are struggling with voice, I would recommend writing in first person, even if your story will eventually need to be in third person. It may be a leap too far to imagine yourself as another person and speak from that perspective in third person. I found when I wanted to write a close third person POV, it helped to write in first person, then convert it to third person. Become the character, live the scene, then write the scene.
Your first draft may read like liner notes as you flesh out your story. But once you have what happens down, live the story through the character’s senses, then write it. The voice of the character won’t come through in the writing until you have lived in his skin. And sometimes, that can really hurt.
Then, get a good editor who will write “more sensory detail” next to every other paragraph. Compelling writing does not just come from a facility with words and language. That’s just where it starts.
Thank you so much for your advice, I will so use it ❤
Bless you for this. It’s very easy to wander into cliff notes land, and I keep catching myself forgetting about smell, which can be extremely powerful. The thing I might add is that an author needs to climb deep in their characters skulls. This may be out of your wheelhouse, but I’m wondering if you have any tips for determining if your story is likely too big. I’m looking at this from a short story perspective, but it can be s consideration for a novel as well. Lotr in 200 hundred pages wouldn’t have worked.
Enjoy your retreat. It appears to be agreeing with you - you look rested and relaxed.
I would like to ask you this one thing about your recent blog-post about despair vs hope, (and you already pointed to some ways of not doing it the wrong way, anyway!): How can any of us who ever, or never, really experienced personal despair describe, transcribe, so that others might feel, if never understand?
I went into the darkness on my own, very long ago, and being male, I never (of course!) talked about it later (naturally... 😉).
But that was my subjective experience, after all.
Do you feel there is a common feeling of human decency that we will all tap into, when /if we read something that resonates with us on a personal level? Or if it really jars with our general feeling of well-being if nothing happens that we can notice?
Thank you ❤.... I also want to be a writer 🦋
Happy Belated Bday!
I'm the opposite. Prose is easy. In fact too easy. I lack the ability to define my process or my story's structure as I do not give it conscious thought. Pantsing a short story is fine, but pantsing a novel is like circumnavigating the globe without a map. What do I do? Where do I start? Jumping in and composing as I would a short story has proven demonstrably unproductive.
I don’t mean to take you down but people who think prose is easy likely have terrible prose. Prose requires even more conscious thoughts than plot. You have to figure out how to generate curiosity in readers, tension in the scene, suspense and mysteries for the plot. You want to give readers enough info so they can follow the story but not too much that you bore readers. There are tons of other things that go into the prose that you have to constantly be aware of.