Sophie Campbell hands us the key to unlock the dilemma of when to “show” and when to “tell.”
“In creative writing, we’re often told to show, not tell. It’s practically gospel. In essence, it means show us how a character is feeling, don’t tell us.
For example, ‘Jane felt a bubble rise in her throat and her chest heaved as she sobbed,’ is more powerful than simply, ‘Jane was sad and she cried.’
But the truth is, the most compelling fiction does both showing and telling, and the best copywriting does too.
The key isn’t choosing one over the other, it’s knowing when and how to use each of them to create characters that feel like real people and a voice that readers will remember.”
Excerpted from The Forever Workshop, Use This Copywriting “Golden Rule” In Your Fiction, Poetry & Essays, Lesson 3 of “Steal From a Copywriter: Copy Techniques That Translate Into Creative Writing.”
Just Write!
