The Last Class on Show vs. Tell You'll Ever Need

November 8, 2010: The Last Class on Show vs. Tell You'll Ever Need

Description: If you write fiction, you've doubtless heard someone say, "Show, don't tell." But what does that mean? Telling is the act of stopping your story to spoon-feed backstory or explanations to the reader (who probably couldn't care less). Showing is the act of illustrating that information in a way that doesn't stop the story and does engage the reader. Telling is much easier. Anyone can do it--but "anyone's" story would be weak. Showing is harder but a hundred times more effective. Learning to spot telling, and to convert it to showing, can be confusing. Come hear the best way to learn how to see it--and some fantastic ideas for how to transform it.

Speaker: Jeff Gerke has been called the de facto gatekeeper of Christian speculative fiction. After writing his own speculative fiction and spearheading the launch of a fiction imprint dedicated to Christian speculative fiction at a major Christian publishing company, Jeff branched out on his own to launch Marcher Lord Press, an Indie publishing house billing itself as the premier publisher of Christian speculative fiction. His fiction how-to book, The Art & Craft of Writing Christian Fiction, is available through Amazon or Marcher Lord Press and his new craft book from Writer’s Digest Books is due out in late 2010. Jeff lives in Colorado Springs with his wife, teenage daughter, 9-year-old son, and 2-year-old adoptive daughter from China.