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Master the "Show; Don't Tell" technique

Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2012 6:22 am
by Sparrow
I recently published a workbook, Bring Your Writing to Life, that explains the show, don't tell technique clearly, with lots of examples about what exactly it means and what to do and not do. I've gotten a lot of great feedback on it from writers who have found it helpful. The chapters cover things like adverbs and adjectives, dialogue tags, and backstory. Each section explains the concept, then gives bad examples and shows how to fix them into good examples, and then ends with a worksheet for you to try it yourself to make sure you fully understand.

It's available in paperback for $5.50 and in e-book for $2.99. Find links to purchase it here: http://www.sparrowsflight.net/Amys-books.htm

Here's the official "blurb" about it:

In this easy-to-use workbook, Amy Michelle Wiley shows you how to bring your writing to life. Instead of telling the simple facts of the story, you will immerse your reader in the action so they are experiencing the events and full range of emotions along with the character.

Amy teaches the technique commonly called “show, don’t tell” with lots of concrete examples so you know exactly what to do and what to avoid. She covers a range of topics, including the use of adjectives and adverbs, dialogue tags, point of view, and descriptive language. Each section ends with a short worksheet to practice the skills yourself.

This guide is perfect for writers who want to hone their skills, or for teachers to use in the classroom.


If you don't know me yet and wonder about my credentials for writing this book, I've had short stories and articles published seventy times and work as a professional story coach and editor, both for a small publisher and on my own doing freelance and volunteer work. Some of those publishing credits include the 21 times I've placed in the FW challenge so far. I run an international collaborative fiction group, Peculiar People, interacting with nearly a hundred authors from eight different countries. I also am one of the coordinators for the FW conference, emcee them, and have taught workshops on writing. I love to give back to the community by passing on what I've been taught. :)

Re: Master the "Show; Don't Tell" technique

Posted: Wed Jul 10, 2013 4:41 pm
by RachelM
Hi Amy! I just purchased the Kindle edition of, Bring Your Writing to Life. I'm looking forward to getting into it. Thanks for sharing your passion!

Re: Master the "Show; Don't Tell" technique

Posted: Wed Jul 10, 2013 5:38 pm
by beaedwards
It's on Kindle? Yay how exciting, I'm going to get it too! :clap

Re: Master the "Show; Don't Tell" technique

Posted: Wed Jul 10, 2013 8:13 pm
by Sparrow
Thanks! Yes, it's on Smashwords, so is available for any type of reader. I think I have it directly on Kindle and Nook, too.

Re: Master the "Show; Don't Tell" technique

Posted: Thu Jul 11, 2013 1:20 pm
by RachelM
It's on Amazon. I actually got it off of Amazon.ca (Canadian) which was really nice because I didn't have to deal with the exchange.