Week 3:

Show, don’t tell. Ever writing class, every workshop, everything I know about writing preaches this concept. SHOW, DON’T TELL. This is the equivalent of rushing into a room and acting out (a la charades) that the house is on fire!


MOUNTAIN LAUREL begins with the single-most horrifying event in Laurel’s life-she was thirteen when Hattie Myers died. The South is known for their funerals and this one would prove to be the granddaddy of them all. When I began the story, I had to describe the events—hence the outline. I used the outline to set the stage. I used bullet points to add detail. Many, many rewrites later, I used that outline and begin the chapter where the action really begins—Miss Ella Mae Myers lying spread-eagle on her dead-as-a-doornail sister’s body. My story opens with a scream. So does life, when you get to thinking about it.