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Editor’s Corner: Free Editing Tips
“Show Don’t Tell”
We’ve all heard this polarizing adage, and with anything else in language, it’s more nuanced than just those three words. In writing, it’s more important to know when to show and when to tell. Bottom line: show emotion and tell action.
Show: Emotion
He cried because he was sad.
Tears gathered at the corners of his eyes as his cheeks heated and his chest tightened, the proverbial storm cloud brewing over his head.
Tell: Action
He approached the car’s driver side door, opened the door, situated himself behind the wheel, put the key in the car’s ignition, threw the car in gear, and drove away.
He got in the car and left.
Quotations
There are some exceptions but almost always the punctuation goes inside the quotes. A quoted statement, as opposed to a question or exclamation, ends in a comma if the phrase preceding it or after it is not a full sentence (example 1). Otherwise, the quoted statement ends in a period and the phrase preceding or after it is a full sentence (example 2).
Example 1: “Hello,” he said.
Example 2: He offered a smile. “Hello.”
Adverbs & Adjectives
Sometimes using adverbs is helpful in prose—they exist for a reason, after all! I use them in my own writing, especially dialogue. There’s no way to avoid them entirely, or at least not in a way that services your work. It’s tempting to always use an adverb for the sake of efficiency and flourish, but if there is a better way to describe something than using one word, opt for it, but don’t load your sentences with adjectives and adverbs. Are you very tired, or exhausted? Are you very hungry, or starving? Are you very happy, or elated? In narration and prose, err on the side of articulate, but dialogue doesn’t need eloquence. Average conversations aren’t usually like a perfectly crafted piece of written work, so your dialogue isn’t expected to be, either.
Affect vs Effect
The age-old question! The easy linguistic difference: affect is a verb and effect is a noun. Something affects you or something has an effect on you. A good way to remember this is affect starts with A, and A is for Action. It also helps to picture phrases with these words in them: side effect, display of affection, cause and effect, butterfly effect.