Monday, December 19, 2011

Even My Twelve Year Old Daughter Knows About Showing vs. Telling

All I can say is OMG!

Today I let my twelve-year-old daughter read the first chapter of my story to get her opinion on its current state. Since she loves anything having to do with Harry Potter, I wasn't expecting much in the way of criticism. (She thinks any YouTube video set to the music of the Benny Hill theme song is awesome, so her bar of excellence isn't set too high).

So I asked her about the very first paragraph, and she told me that it would be better if I showed more instead of telling. I kid you not! Once I picked myself off the floor, I asked where she had heard the terms "Showing" and "Telling", and she replied, "her sixth grade English class."

I'd only heard about Showing and Telling two years ago. Man, they're teaching kids a lot faster these days.

4 comments:

  1. That is SO funny! Good for your daughter!

    Seems you've got a pretty darn good beta reader there :)

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  2. This is awesome! Can your daughter read my opening page??? Lol

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  3. Hilarious! You've got a great support system there ;)

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  4. She's going to be worth her weight in gold :-)

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