To War Against the Dialogue Tags! by Faraleigh, literature
Literature
To War Against the Dialogue Tags!
I am waging a war. Consider this your invitation to join my army.
What is this war about, you ask? It's about destroying dialogue tags. What are dialogue tags, you ask? They are the parts that explain who's talking, like "he said" and "she asked". Why am I doing this, you ask? It's not that they kicked my puppy (I don't even have one, despite the opposition's claim). It's not that they burned my toast. It's not even that they opened my favorite book too far and creased the spine. Here. Let me explain why you're going to be fighting the good fight.
Dialogue tags have a use. It's a very useful use, even. They prevent confusion about who gener
Writer's Tip: Show, don't tell. by DarlingMionette, literature
Literature
Writer's Tip: Show, don't tell.
Show, don’t tell (SDT). It’s one of the few consistent pieces of advice that all writers have heard at one time or another. Even the most amateur of writers parrot it back, but knowing the phrase doesn’t necessarily mean that we understand it, or how to implement it.
So what does “Show, don’t tell.” really mean? SDT is the idea that instead of telling your readers what’s happening in a story, you show them. This seems like an abstract concept to most of us, but what it boils down to is this: using words to give your readers an idea without having to directly state it. There are many ways good writers