Great lecture and exercise. I didn't realize I was so hindered by the show don't tell "rule". But also being up front about emotions isn't my most natural state of being. Good advice in writing and in life. I tried the exercise on a scene I've been working on and its changed the energy for sure!
The highlighted handout and listening to the lecture have been extremely helpful. Thank you for sharing these. My own writing has suffered an asphyxiation of emotion...under the "show don't tell" mantra that I've never completely trusted but followed dogmatically (sigh). This has been an excellent explanation of how that advice goes awry (coupled with my own obsessive rule following). I also appreciated the discussion at the very end...about inviting emotion in as a guide in the writing process and allowing it to unfold sentence by sentence. Will try the exercise next.
What a fantastic lecture and exercise. I very much miss this kind of reminder about the nature of good writing and how to achieve it. Thanks so much for sharing this, Douglas.
Great lecture and exercise. I didn't realize I was so hindered by the show don't tell "rule". But also being up front about emotions isn't my most natural state of being. Good advice in writing and in life. I tried the exercise on a scene I've been working on and its changed the energy for sure!
The highlighted handout and listening to the lecture have been extremely helpful. Thank you for sharing these. My own writing has suffered an asphyxiation of emotion...under the "show don't tell" mantra that I've never completely trusted but followed dogmatically (sigh). This has been an excellent explanation of how that advice goes awry (coupled with my own obsessive rule following). I also appreciated the discussion at the very end...about inviting emotion in as a guide in the writing process and allowing it to unfold sentence by sentence. Will try the exercise next.
What a fantastic lecture and exercise. I very much miss this kind of reminder about the nature of good writing and how to achieve it. Thanks so much for sharing this, Douglas.