Good writers show more than tell. And they do this by unpacking words and sentences like you would unpack a suitcase. They pull out the images and the feelings and the details that help a reader to SEE and EXPERIENCE. What does this mean?
I can TELL you that I had a bad morning, but what does that mean? What you think is a bad morning might be very different.
Or I can show you...
I thought there was nothing worse than getting in the shower and discovering that there is no more hot water. But it turns out that what is worse is a shower in water that must have come all the way from Antarctica, so cold it made my teeth chatter and my lips turn blue. I got through it and then discovered that I had no power in the house. I did have daylight, so I had light--but daylight doesn't equal heat, doesn't equal a hot breakfast, and it sure doesn't equal COFFEE.
I figured I'd just get ready for the day as fast I could and then get breakfast and coffee at the Dunkin Donuts down the street. As soon as I walked in there, I could smell the muffins and the coffee and felt a big smile on my face. And I kept on smiling until I had the coffee cup warming my hand, the muffin in a bag on the counter and I reached into my pocketbook for my wallet.
Uh oh.
New Assignment:
1. Go back to your photograph paragraph. Ask a partner to read your paragraph and suggest places where you could unpack and SHOW what is happening or what the photograph means to you. Unpack these places by writing on a separate sheet of paper, just as you wrote the answers to the big potato, small potato questions. Don't worry right now about how it will all go together--we'll talk about that soon!
2. Then, write another paragraph. Write about something that happened in your life or the life of a character. You choose from the list below. See if you can SHOW so well through your writing that I can know which topic you chose--you can't use the word or phrase that is in bold.
Something happened that made you (or your character) sad.
Something happened that made you (or your character) feel like you had the best family in the world.
Something happened that was scary.
Something happened that made you (or your character)angry.
Something happened that made you (or your character)happy.
Don't forget-- I am still looking for questions about the photo below. I can't upack my story until I get a question from everyone in the class.
I can TELL you that I had a bad morning, but what does that mean? What you think is a bad morning might be very different.
Or I can show you...
I thought there was nothing worse than getting in the shower and discovering that there is no more hot water. But it turns out that what is worse is a shower in water that must have come all the way from Antarctica, so cold it made my teeth chatter and my lips turn blue. I got through it and then discovered that I had no power in the house. I did have daylight, so I had light--but daylight doesn't equal heat, doesn't equal a hot breakfast, and it sure doesn't equal COFFEE.
I figured I'd just get ready for the day as fast I could and then get breakfast and coffee at the Dunkin Donuts down the street. As soon as I walked in there, I could smell the muffins and the coffee and felt a big smile on my face. And I kept on smiling until I had the coffee cup warming my hand, the muffin in a bag on the counter and I reached into my pocketbook for my wallet.
Uh oh.
New Assignment:
1. Go back to your photograph paragraph. Ask a partner to read your paragraph and suggest places where you could unpack and SHOW what is happening or what the photograph means to you. Unpack these places by writing on a separate sheet of paper, just as you wrote the answers to the big potato, small potato questions. Don't worry right now about how it will all go together--we'll talk about that soon!
2. Then, write another paragraph. Write about something that happened in your life or the life of a character. You choose from the list below. See if you can SHOW so well through your writing that I can know which topic you chose--you can't use the word or phrase that is in bold.
Something happened that made you (or your character) sad.
Something happened that made you (or your character) feel like you had the best family in the world.
Something happened that was scary.
Something happened that made you (or your character)angry.
Something happened that made you (or your character)happy.
Don't forget-- I am still looking for questions about the photo below. I can't upack my story until I get a question from everyone in the class.
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