My youngest son is a good writer.
In fact, all my kids are good writers. (so sayeth their proud mama.) But my youngest son invites me to edit his writing on occasion so I have more opportunity to read what he writes.
Like many high school students schooled in the art of the five-paragraph essay, he’s been trained to – tell them what you’re going to tell them, tell them, and then tell them what you told them.
And he’s very good at essay – particularly argumentative essay (don’t know where he gets all that passion from….)
I was comfortable with that format when I was a teenager. It made writing a little less subjective. Clear objectives make me happy. I like to know what I’m aiming at.
The formulas that work in essay-writing don’t apply as well to fiction writing (or memoir).
It should be more like – Continue reading “You Really Don’t Need to Tell Them”