Take Tell, Dont Show! Composed By James Lofquist Depicted In Digital Copy

very short book but some really good and easy to use tips, this book was reassuring reassuring because I have been writing writing lists to, help me develop my stories, Here it is: Don't worry about detail in your first draft, If you start bogging down, just summarize or list what you want to happen, There, just saved you time and money,
TELLS/LISTS

A great little book that tells you to not sweat lengthy descriptions and sets during your first draft of anything, be it an email or a novel.
Make a list of items to include, or tell in short phrases what you'd like to see in that scene and move forward fast! Looking over your first draft, start with easy tells/lists and expand them to your liking.
It helps to concentrate on the whole picture of your message and not get bogged or distracted when your main task is just to put everything down on paper.


Yes, it does sounds much too easy and like something you might have already known and done, but now you can use this highly productive tool of tells/lists with confidence, actually knowing what you are doing and enjoying the benefit of freed inspiration.


Victoria Evangelina A quick read because there's really very little there, I'll save you.: list out the actions of your story before you get deep into writing it, That's basically the whole book: you should outline your story by listing what the author calls "tells", simple descriptions of what happens, Interestingly, an entire section, "Questions and Answers", was blank in my copy of this book, I'm not complaining it cost less than a dollar, But I do wonder if I had a flawed download, which I doubt, or if the author just "forgot" that section or somehow missed it, Also worth noting is that one of the example excerpts of what is supposed to be finished prose shifts point of view from third to first.
Sloppy. Great advice for people who need permission to write a cruddy first draft, Good examples

I like the listing method and the way it's usefulness was illustrated, Glad I decided to give this a read, Love this concept! A short guide for writers on the dreaded mantra, 'show don't tell' but in reverse engineering style, Fantastic trying it out already and loving it, I picked this book because of the title, Tell, Dont Show But if the very well known approach to writing is “Show, Dont Tell”, what is then this book all about

First, you are paying to discover Mr.
Lofquists technique, nothing else. The book is extremely shortpages and this is only because we get to see a few examples, Otherwise, the content could be pretty much summed up in one paragraph,

So, why am I giving it three I am giving it a positive rating because I think the approach is, in fact, effective and helpful.
I have realized I have been doing this myself for a while, but only on a per chapter basis, I have to say that such simple technique has opened my eyes and gave me the validation and encouragement I needed: “Yes, its perfectly acceptable to let your creativity flow!” At least, for a while During a certain stage! I am trying to avoid spoilers here

For those who feel stuck and unable to finish that first novel draft, I highly recommend this quick read! Hopefully, it will open your eyes, and encourage you to use your creativity, and go wild! And I mean, proper wild!

Does this mean that you should only tell and never show No, this is not what James Lofquist wants to say.
And this is all I can say, in order to not include spoilers in this review I always keep this book close at hand to check when I'm not sure if my writing shows or tells.
Has saved me from some more glaring nono's,
Rayne Eye opening concept

I've been writing since middle school, Had two short stories published and finished one novel, The one thing I always have trouble with is getting the first draft out, Over the years I've read countless books on writing and everyone of them gets me excited to write, Then I sit down at the desk to start and I get bogged down I the details, This method is one of those why didn't I think of that things you find every once in a long while, Once someone else points it out you slap your forehead and let out a flustered, well duh, This is another "pamphlet book", logging in at aboutpages, The author is up front about that though, and the,price isn't out of line,

When I first saw the title, I was intrigued since it seems to take a stance completely opposite what the writing community accepts as proper.
I decided to read it to see what this maverick author was really advocating,

As it turned out, there really isn't any crazy Mirror Universe philosophy here, It's more of a different taking on outlining, Write your book, but when you get to a scene that's going to take a lot of fiddling, rather than get bogged down in the details, list some pertinent events/items and then plow on with the rest of the story.
Go back and fill in the blanks after the book is complete,

Some examples are included, hence the necessity for more than a couple of pages, I could see this being a useful tool, especially if you find yourself stuck in a particularly difficult scene maybe a long, complex fight scene, and you're so frustrated that you're at risk of tossing the whole thing aside.


I'm giving this "book" three for having a decent idea, It's only one idea, though, and doesn't really live up to the title, This isn't about a different style of writing, this is about how to get from Point A to Point B without drowning in a quagmire of description along the way.
You DO have to go back and fix all those "tells" eventually, you're just putting that task off for a while, The main idea of this book is "Don't try to get perfection in your first draft", The author teaches with supporting examples how to make a list of whatever you want to write in that chapter you're beginning to write and how to expand your list in a real story without trying once again to make it perfect, because we should reread our stories once finished.
Finally, that's the classical method of first planning, second writing and third revising and correcting, Nothing new. The only difference with the usual method is that it's presented as a means to counteract the writer's block, I think that he has some interesting ideas that I hadn't heard before, They seem simple enough and I am thinking of trying the ideas out, I liked the way he showed examples of telling and listing and then how you would add showing in the second draft, Other than this simple idea there was not much else in this short book, I enjoyed the fast read and would recommend the ideas to others, An interesting approach to first drafts and definitely a technique to explore when the writing isn't coming, but the writing examples are trite, Write first, edit later

Mostly addresses fiction and all examples given are fiction, but it works for nonfiction too, A good reminder to separate the two tasks so you don't edit out the possibilities for your ideas and prevent them from ever reaching the page.
Fantastic! I never would have been able to finish my first draft without it, So there we are, in November, NaNo'ing away and "pow"we write a beautifully descriptive "Show" and by the time we've finished thatwe've "lost the plot".

Am I right 'Fess upit happens,
Okay, I'll 'fess upit happened to me, And as my creative flow subsided to a trickle, I spent daaays trying to remember that fantastic plot point that was supposed to follow,
In the time spent in "showing" my reader the scenery, I'd lost track of the action,
IF ONLY I had known the "Tell" was OK in a first draft,
But after three years studying creative writing, 'show, don't tell' was well and truly under my skin,
No more I have got rid of that premise, and fully adopted LOFQUIST's concept,
As should you, the Booker Prize author washing dishes while awaiting discovery,
Enjoy the new freedom!
OH MY GOD BLEW MY MIND!!! I loved this book, It made me realize, "hey, the first draft doesn't have to be perfect it can NEVER be perfect!, It really helped me take a new, more efficient approach to writing, I recommend it to every writer out there! Short, sweet and thoughtprovoking, First draft use narrative and lists, I have seen this advice elsewhere, likek tok, It is so logic, I can't understand why we don't think of it, Simple, short, and brilliant. This short book presents one great idea and puts it in terms that are easy to understand and immediately applicable, I already use a similar technique at times in my first drafts, and this book has convinced me to try using it a lot more often.
Highly recommended. I was attracted to this book because of its take on the title of a more famous counterpart, "Show Don't Tell, " I looked at the book briefly last night it's very short and concise, I'll finish the rest later today, but so far I am intrigued by its main probably only point: don't get bogged down with detail and offtrack during your writing instead create a first draft that only involves the inspirational parts of your 'story'.
I'm in the middle of writing my PhD and recognise that even nonfiction tells a story, Lofquist proposes you use single sentences in succession that recreate the flow of the story or the ideas, Sounds liberating to me. Your second draft involves filling in the details, This book will dramatically change the way you write your next first draft, And your next, and your next, . . The technique I share within these pages is extremely easy to learn and do, You will be able to start using it now, today, and see immediate differences in your writing,

It's also a fast read, I've condensed the book down to just a handful of pages, so you can read it all in less than an hour, I know what it's like to try and improve my writing by reading books on how to write, Too much time is lost wading through pages and pages of filler, And the more of these books that we read, the thicker our brains become, with too many details and steps and opinions, This book is different. Read it over lunch, and then go try it out, You'll see for yourself that it works,

Here is a bit more about why Tell, Don't Show!

is truly worth your time,

First of all, the words will come much easier, I promise it. I've seen it transform the writing of many students and friends over the years, and before that, my own writing, The technique is so simple that you won't have any excuse for not using it the next time you sit down to write, It's a real pleasure to write this way, Forget about being a suffering writer, With this one little technique, you'll actually learn to love the process of writing,

And do you ever wonder why you aren't writing so much Do you think that if you could write faster, much faster, you'd want to write more We're not talking about blindly banging away at the keys, but rather, quickly penning powerful stories and novels in a fraction of the time it takes you right now.
That is, if you're even writing now, The truth is that when our writing is too slow and introspective, we lose momentum, and sooner or later, we finally stop, Don't do that. Write faster. The technique I'm sharing in this book will show you how to write faster and a lot more than you are now,

Finally, by using this technique, you'll find your creativity expanding by the hour, by the day! It will free up your imagination to focus on the big picture, lifting you up and away from both micromanagement and nitpickiness, such common traps during first drafts.
Your stories will grow richer and deeper, and you'll find yourself seeing your characters and settings more vividly, Subtext and subplots will rise up and beg for your attention, And this is just the beginning,

You'll find all of the above and much more in Tell, Don't Show!,