Show don’t tell

1. Show don’t tell • I will learn to make suggestions to my reader. - My readers will be able to work out more about my character than I actually tell them: they will solve the case!

2. Grammar Re-cap! Turn these words into comparatives: • Good • Narrow • Funny • Poor • Wealthy Add a sub-ordinate clause to the start of these sentences. • People should read more books. • The lightning struck suddenly. • He stabbed her repeatedly.

4. Role play • Show me you are poor. • Show me you are sad inside but trying to be happy outside. • Show me you are looking forward to the future.

5. You are a murderer. • Design your character: what do you want the reader to know? List 5 things. • He was abused as a child. • He believes that he is working in God’s name. • Looking at his bruises makes him angry. • He lives above a take-away. • He works as a librarian.

6. How can I SHOW this? • He was abused as a child. • He believes that he is working in God’s name. • He gets angry when he looks at his bruises. • He lives above a take-away. • He works as a librarian.

7. Prepare your evidence! • Now it’s your turn. • Do it in secret. • List 5 things you want them to know. • Note 5 ways you can suggest this.

8. Example Gerald had never quite recovered from the bruises. They looked their worst as the sun set through the window of his claustrophobic flat, which seeped the smell of fried potatoes and cheap meat, casting shadows over his torso; his legs; his back and intensifying their damage. This was when Gerald was at his most uncontrollable: when the evidence of his father’s rage splattered itself so brazenly across his chest. During the day, he could ignore it, along with the public, wrapping himself in the professionalism of his uniform, placing books back on the shelves with rationale movements becoming to any normal human being with two parents. Then he can thank God for giving him the protection of his work and reward him for his loyalty by providing him with more fodder for his garden. • He was abused as a child. • He believes that he is working in God’s name. • Looking at his bruises makes him angry. • He lives above a take-away. • He works as a librarian.

9. Now be a detective! • What can you work out about your partner’s character? • Write a list of 5 things. • You cannot include anything you are TOLD.