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TIL that 'show don't tell' actually means something specific
I used to think 'show don't tell' just meant avoiding words like 'felt' or 'saw'. Then a beta reader on a forum told me my whole chase scene was just me saying 'he was scared' and 'the alley was dark' without any actual details. She pointed out I had 3 paragraphs with zero sensory input - no sounds, smells, or physical reactions. So I rewrote it with things like his hands slipping on wet brick and the dumpster smell hitting him, and suddenly the scene actually worked. Has anyone else had that moment where a piece of advice finally made sense after you saw it applied to your own writing?
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taylor.paige25d ago
Realized the same thing applies to how I design logos - clients saying "make it modern" means nothing until you show them what that actually looks like.
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uma_nguyen2425d ago
Right there with you @taylor.paige. "Modern" is pretty much empty until you put something in front of them. I get the same thing with people asking for a workout that's "functional" - they nod along until they actually see what that looks like in practice.
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