I’m completely thrilled to share a guest post today by Lisa Rogers, author of, most recently Woody’s Words: Woodrow Wilson Rawls and Where the Red Fern Grows
, illustrated by Susan Reagan. She’s talking about that perennial dilemma for writers, Show vs. Tell, and offering up some tips on how perhaps to approach it constructively! Here’s Lisa:
Writers Who Tell Too Much
Have you ever been told that your stories are too “tell-y?” I have. Though I can spot a tell from paragraphs away, it can be hard to see it in my own writing.
I don’t always tell too much. I’ve been lucky when a story’s form curbs the telling temptation. For my debut,
16 Words: William Carlos Williams and “The Red Wheelbarrow,” I chose a parallel structure that showed Williams and Thaddeus Marshall going about their workdays. My initial text was so spare that first, my agent, then my editor, asked me to add more. For
Joan Mitchell Paints a Symphony, the text came showing the act of painting, perfect for this artist didn’t like talking about her work–she wanted viewers to experience it without being told how.
However, during oodles of drafts of
Beautiful Noise: The Music of John Cage, I told. And told. And told, until I threw out all that telling and let the reader directly experience Cage’s work. For
Woody’s Words: Woodrow Wilson Rawls and
Where the Red Fern Grows, out from Calkins Creek/Astra Books for Young Readers, let’s just say that 1,250 words should have
shown me that something was not right.
Example #1:
All the Facts
In the late 1950s, Woody was working at a farm when a woman named Sophie came to visit the owners. They weren’t home, and Woody and Sophie got to talking.
Soon Woody and Sophie fell in love. But something bothered Woody. He was almost 45 years old and just getting settled. He’d barely gone to school. Sophie was educated and had a good-paying job.
Rewrite: The Right Specifics
In Idaho, Woody worked in construction, stacked hay on a farm, and spent weekends fishing and writing.
Best of all, he met a woman named Sophie. who came to a ranch to visit a friend. When they met, it was the right time for both of them. They fell in love and decided to marry. But something bothered Woody. His writing might get in the way of his marriage.
Example #2:
Where’s the Passion?
The winter after Woody and Sophie married, it was too cold to work construction, and Woody became anxious. When Sophie asked what was wrong, he told her about his dream to be an author.
Sophie believed in him.
Rewrite: Feel What Your Characters Feel
The winter after Woody and Sophie married, it was too cold to work construction, and Woody grew anxious. Sophie had a good-paying job, but what could he do until spring?
When Sophie asked what was wrong, Woody decided to trust her with his deepest wish.
Sophie didn’t hesitate. She believed in him.
These changes might seem small, but they make the difference between prose that is flat and dull and words that show emotion. Placing myself in a scene helps me to understand my subjects well enough to be able to show how they feel, what they see, how they act, and what's important to them. That helps my words connect with readers, so they can put themselves in the scene, too.
One way to spot the tell is to read your work out loud. Not just read it, but perform it, as if you’re reading it to a group of children and need them to hang on to every word. If it’s a struggle, it might be that you’re telling.
Use specific words to delineate action: “was working at a farm” is vague; “stacked hay at a farm” provides a visual. If you create pictures in the reader’s mind, your story will be one that resonates.
Lisa Rogers is the award-winning author of Woody’s Words: Woodrow Wilson Rawls and Where the Red Fern Grows
, called “a poignant tribute to the power of story" by Kirkus; Joan Mitchell Paints a Symphony
, termed “simply marvelous” by Kirkus in a starred review; Beautiful Noise: The Music of John Cage
, which received a Golden Kite Honor, the Julia Ward Howe Notable Book Award, and three starred reviews; the Crystal Kite finalist and Julia Ward Howe Award winner 16 Words, called “a fine introduction to a celebrated American poet” by The New York Times, which received two starred reviews; and the bestselling Elvis Presley: A Little Golden Book Biography
. She also is the author of the Massachusetts Must-Read Hound Won’t Go
, the author of the title poem of the anthology If I Could Choose a Best Day
, ed. Irene Latham and Charles Waters, and more.
She was inspired to write for children during her career as an elementary school librarian. A former news reporter and editor, Lisa writes from the shores of a pond near Boston, Massachusetts, accompanied by howls from her hound dog. Find her at www.LisaRogersWrites.com.
Lynn's Review of Woody’s Words: Woodrow Wilson Rawls and Where the Red Fern Grows
Woody’s Words: Woodrow Wilson Rawls and Where the Red Fern Grows, written by Lisa Rogers and illustrated by Susan Reagan, is an exceptional biography, full of voice and personality. It tells the story of Woodrow Wilson Rawls, who wrote “someday in my life I will write a book, and it will be a dog story.” And he did! Despite having “no schooling,” he wrote the bestselling dog story
Where the Red Fern Grows.
Woody’s journey was anything but easy. Though he loved listening to stories, Woody didn’t go to school and “didn’t care for reading” until he heard
The Call of the Wild read aloud, a story that “reached right into Woody’s heart and stayed there.” Woody’s family was poor, and he was too when he left home. But he persevered. He wrote when he was hungry, cold, in jail, in bunkhouses, and on railcars. When he met his wife Sophie, he settled down and during one long, freezing winter, with her full help and support, he wrote the first draft of what would eventually become
Where the Red Fern Grows. And, just like when he listened to
The Call of the Wild as a child, Woody found that his own story,
Where the Red Fern Grows, reached deep into the hearts of the children who read it.
This fabulous biography sticks to the storyline about Where the Red Fern Grows, while back matter adds context and further fleshes out Woody’s complex life. The voice is strong and engaging, and the illustrations, with their greens, browns, and beautiful rich reds, work perfectly with the text. Kudos to the team that brought Woody’s Words to life, and kudos to Lisa for another beautiful biography to add to her body of work!
Lisa thank you for being here!
To order a copy:
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