By Amelie Rohweder
Since her short story was published in a magazine at age 16, author and editor Carolyn Martinez was hooked on writing. The director of Hawkeye Books is running a free seminar teaching authors how to incorporate the age-old ‘Show, Don’t Tell’ rule that’s hammered down everyone’s throats. ‘Listening to the theory is one thing, but applying it is harder than you think,’ Martinez says.
‘To connect to your story, readers have to experience actions in real time with your character. For example, sense words – see, touch, feel, hear, taste – tell instead of show.
Martinez teaches a 6-Step process to turn ‘I heard someone walking behind me and felt scared,’ into ‘Crunching gravel assaulted my ears in the dark laneway. Crisp shoe treads closed in with purpose. My skin prickled and heat swelled up my neck.’
‘My advice for all writers is practise, and connect with the writing community. Libraries run extremely good free courses for writers, and everybody who wants to be a writer should be in a writer’s group. We never stop learning.’
Carolyn Martinez’s ‘Show, Don’t Tell’ Seminar is on Friday 5 July from 6.30pm to 7.30pm at Redcliffe Library.
On Saturday 10 August 10:30am – 12midday she’s presenting ‘Developing Non-Fiction Ideas for Publication’ at Strathpine Library.
5 comments to “Hit the Mark”
Michelle M Tom - June 25, 2019
Great piece Amelie! This looks like a terrific course.
Lynette - June 25, 2019
Thanks Amelie, I have put this date into my calendar.
Gillian Lloyd - June 25, 2019
Great article Amelie, concise and we’ll written.
Julie Ferguson - June 25, 2019
Sounds excellent! Thanks for the info Amelie 🙂
Tony - June 25, 2019
Thanks Amelie. That was really enjoyable to read. Nice job Carolyn.