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You make an interesting and valid point about showing and telling. I guess that the balance between the two ends up being based on what will suit your readership, your genre and what is happening at that point in your story.<br />I have my kindle app at the ready and am looking forward to downloading your story.

Thank you very much, Maureen. Another peice to print out and pin on my board. I, too, having been struggling with the amount of telling I see in successful books, despite overwhelming advice against it and the exhausting nature of reading (and writing) scenes that unremittingly show. James Scott Bell - write on.<br />

Tremendously useful, Maureen - thank you. As a writer on BEAST QUEST I&#39;m always particularly intrigued by what makes them so successful, as they aren&#39;t the most entertaining books to write. Sometimes we need to remind ourselves of our audience and not get too uppity about stating the obvious!

Brilliant piece on showing not telling! And folks, I&#39;ve read Florence and I can guarantee you a wonderful read!

Great post, said Ros admiringly.

Thanks for this really useful post, Maureen. I&#39;ve often wondered why my daughter loved the Beast Quest books so much, apart from the wonderfully-collectable cards at the end. Maybe a reason why Enid Blyton has been so popular, too? Does this mean we should add a bit of telling every now and then so younger children can understand?

Thanks, Amanda. And I haven&#39;t forgotten about your appearance on the funEverse, I&#39;ll be emailing you this week, sorry it&#39;s taken me longer than expected.

Hi, Rowena :) James Scott Bell is one of the masters of &#39;How To&#39; isn&#39;t he.

I&#39;d love it if I had a Beast Quest book in my portfolio, the kids have such enthusiasm for them. They have their place in a child&#39;s journey to become an independent reader.

Aw, thanks, Candy. Have a cupcake.

&#39;WoW! Thanks!&#39; said the author of the blog, excitedly. Because she really was pleased that Ros had admired the post.

Hi Anna, I tried to find some samples from Dahl where he&#39;d shown, then confirmed what he&#39;d shown by adding a little bit of telling. I&#39;d spotted them last year, but I didn&#39;t have time to do the research. Also I&#39;ve noticed that good illustrations often confirm the showing. So children know they were on the right track with their interpretation of the text. Interesting subject

GREAT post, Maureen! Thank you so much. In the past I&#39;ve held back on &#39;telling&#39; in my novel for fear of being &#39;reprimanded&#39; ;0) but have been realising recently (through studying other books) that some telling is not only ok but essential (for the reasons you describe above - although I hadn&#39;t really thought about how the child&#39;s limited life experiences affected this

Thanks Emma :)<br />I used to live in fear of the &#39;Show Not Tell Police&#39; too. I think one of the tricks is to pick a novel that you absolutely love and analyse how that author has balanced showing and telling. Then you&#39;ll have a guideline that suits you. Maybe the book&#39;s pace comes from that balance. <br /><br />Glad to hear I&#39;ve lightened the load!

Thanks Maureen, your posts are always so useful.

Cracking post! Thanks.

No problem Maureen. I wasn&#39;t expecting to hear from you so soon - whenever you are ready is fine.

This was a wonderfully instructive article. As an illustrator/author, I tend to think visually. I believe the examples you&#39;ve given are going to really stick with me. Thank you!

Thank you, Heather :)

Thanks, Paula.

My pleasure, Sue, The triangle of words, pictures and gap is fascinating to me. I wish my illustration skills were good enough to do the whole thing myself. Maybe one day.

This is a great post, and what an insight into the cursed Rainbow Fairies (I will give my poor daughter a break now and allow her to read them without my judgement!) <br /><br />I think that &#39;telling&#39; is the biggest mistake that people make when writing a picture book, especially if they are not illustrators as well - they forget that the words and illustrations should work together.

Ah, happy times ahead for your daughter :) Until she gets bored and moves on. <br />The example makes sense, Lucy. If you can see it, you don&#39;t need to write it.

Great post, thanks! I have heard that you can tell a bit more in picture books, and your post explains so clearly why.

This explanation/demonstration of why we shouldn&#39;t &quot;tell&quot; is very pointy indeed.

Ha ha K is for Phillippa!

Mind the gap!

Sylvia, picture books are different to the series reads where telling is used more. In a book like Rosie&#39;s Walk there seems to be a lot of telling in the text, but none of the story is told. The pictures show the story. It&#39;s a brilliant example of the words, pictures and the gap working together. <br />You can actually have less telling in a picture book and more showing not just because

I thank you for pointing that out, Helen :)

Maureen, you&#39;re a star - she said, fawningly. The issue of the gap being different for different ages really is an important point - and so nicely put. I still struggle enormously with this. <br /><br />And of course *donning her neuroscience teacher hat for a moment* well done for identifying that it&#39;s the synapse where communication between the neurones happens. It&#39;s getting

Hahahahaha! You big show off in your big hat! I did know it, I did!, said Maureen smugly. Big hug, Louise.

Maureen, you are an excellent teacher. The concept of The Gap is brilliant and I just read Louise&#39;s comment about synapses which confirms it.<br />Great post and I do like Florence&#39;s cover. Thank you.

Thank you, Jan, on all counts.

Oh **** I knew that. Sorry Phillipa.

Awesome, Maureen. I am always struggling with showing and telling, and it&#39;s hard to recognize it at times. I like your explanation and your examples are very clear. Thanks!

Maureen, sounds like this could reduce you to a quivering heap of frog spawn! Hope you find some sort of utterly hilarious and froggy catch phrase for him soon, it&#39;ll be ribbit-tatious I&#39;m sure! <br /><br />Very useful blog post as ever!<br /><br />Kate*

This is an awesome post, Maureen -yabadabadooyou!

Crumbs! What a brilliant post. I&#39;ll even have to book mark it to keep reminding myself...<br /><br />Excellent.

Bally Brilliant post Maureen - shame it&#39;s taken me half an hour to decipher the blessed captcha - assuming I do it this time and don&#39;t put a brick through the screen!

LOL loved this Maureen! <br />

I am so pinching quivering heal of frog spawn! That sounds just like Hagatha. Thanks, Kate.

Thanks, Jo. maybe one day I&#39;ll get &#39;Loadsa money!&#39;

By crumble, Mark. You&#39;ve pinched one of King Fred&#39;s words!

Thanks and Sorry, Kathy. They are annoying aren&#39;t they, but the blooming spammers are worse. A better solution is needed. I often comment on facebook instead.

Thanks, Sally. Glad it made you laugh.

Far too hilarious for a Tuesday morning. That wheel of emotions is mesmerising. Can&#39;t think. This dangerously distracting post should come with a warning. Stap me vitals indeed!

Maureen - suggestion:- &#39;tickling tadpoles!&#39;

I say, Sally. That&#39;s a rather spiffing suggestion. Although I am jolly well wondering if I&#39;ve passed on my obsessive behaviour. Zounds! I hope not.

Ah, now, Bridget. If you are stapping those bally vitals you must know where those vitals are situated. Do tell.

Awesome!

I have PLOT & STRUCTURE and refer to it all the time. I've recommended it a handful of times on my blog, too!

I love ON WRITING. It's a great read even if you don't write. And Anne Lamott's BIRD BY BIRD. Not that you were asking for my personal inspiration list. :)

I'm another who really enjoys--and is really inspired by--Stephen King's ON WRITING. Another one I like is Orson Scott Card's CHARACTERS AND VIEWPOINTS. There are others, too, but those are the two that jump to mind.

I'd recommend HOOKED by Les Edgerton, and SCENE & STRUCTURE by Jack Bickham. I also agree with the recommendation for PLOT & STRUCTURE.