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Showing posts from June, 2018

Show AND Tell In Short Non-fiction

      New writers are often advised to "Show, don't tell." Many have no idea what this means.   Mark Twin instructed: "don't report that the old lady screamed. Bring her on and let her scream." More recently, bestseller Janet Evanovich wrote: "If your character walks out of his apartment, pulls up the collar of his coat, and goes searching through pockets for his gloves, you don't have to tell us it's freezing."   Both Twain and Evanovich are known primarily for their fiction. When it comes to nonfiction, though, while you don't want to list everything that happened to you from birth on, there are often compelling and necessary reason you should "tell" factual elements. Here's why you might need to show and tell when writing essays-and how to strike the perfect balance. WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE?   "Showing" can be described as painting a vivid picture of what's going on, using the kind of physi...