Showing posts with label Don’t Tell: How What Your Character Notices Reveals Emotion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Don’t Tell: How What Your Character Notices Reveals Emotion. Show all posts

Monday, September 28, 2026

Show, Don’t Tell: How What Your Character Notices Reveals Emotion

From Edie: Ane Mulligan shares how the details your POV character notices can reveal emotions, strengthen point of view, and help you show, not tell, in your fiction.


Show, Don’t Tell: How What Your Character Notices Reveals Emotion
by Ane Mulligan @AneMulligan

You really can teach an old dog new tricks—or in this case, an old author. I’ve picked up a new tip recently that I think is one of the best I’ve learned in a while. 

It’s showing what my POV character notices, because that shows emotion or state of mind. Gleaned from Writers In the Storm blog, a frightened character notices the shadows in a room, its corners where danger could hide. A happy person would notice the sun streaming through the window, and the butterfly on a meadowsweet bush outside that window.