Monday, April 28, 2008

Quote of the Week!

"Good writing is supposed to evoke sensation in the reader—not the fact that it is raining, but the feeling of being rained upon."

~E.L. Doctorow

Good morning and welcome to Monday. I thought I'd start the week of with a quote from E.L. Doctorow. This quote says it all when it comes to writing. It's the old refrain all new writers here--show me, don't tell me.

You can say, "Emma went to her car. They were chasing her" That tells us what she is doing.

Or you can say, "Emma raced across the slick driveway, slipping once before catching herself against her car door. Her heart was pounding, but she dared not take the time to look behind. She could hear their footsteps on the pavement. They were right behind her."

Each sentence tells us the action, but the second way tells us so much more. :-)

6 comments:

Anny Cook said...

Yeah, that's me. But I'm working on it! Really!

Anonymous said...

Damn you're good!
Can I be you when I grow up?
Better yet can you do my edits? No! okay then, I'll just read your books.

Shelley Munro said...

Great post, NJ. I can feel her fear.

Thank goodness for edits and the polishing process all what I say. My first draft looks like example #1 :)

N.J.Walters said...

LOL Me too, Anny. I've come a long way since I started. :-)

N.J.Walters said...

*g* Thanks, Rachel.

All us writers are a work in progress. I strive to keep getting better with each book. I've learned a lot about the writing process by doing it and working with some wonderful editors.

N.J.Walters said...

LOL Mine too, Shelley. I love the editing process. It's where you take the bare bones of a book and turn it into something special.