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That creative writing prompt about "show don't tell" nearly ruined my story
My old writing group leader, a guy named Dave who had published one short story in 2012, kept hammering "show don't tell" into every critique. He told me to stop saying a character was angry and instead describe clenched fists and gritted teeth for three paragraphs. So I did that for a 5000 word horror story I was writing. I sent it to a different editor and she told me the pacing was garbage because I never just said what was happening. She said readers need a mix of both or they get lost in the weeds. I went back and rewrote the whole thing with 40% less descriptive fluff and the story got picked up by a small online mag. Has anyone else had a writing rule that just didn't work for their genre?
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iris_park14d ago
Dave's advice ruined my pace too until I cut the fluff by half.
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val_taylor14d ago
Cutting fluff is useful but it’s not always the whole problem with pacing. Sometimes the issue is in how scenes connect or where you leave space for the reader to breathe. Have you tried reworking those transitions instead of just trimming words?
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