I'm ever in the state of redrafting. Writing is rewriting, and practice makes perfect, some would say. Sometimes I read old drafts just to remember where the stories were when I first thought of them. This evening my purpose in reviewing old material is to redraft -- I'm trying to fix the climax, and about eighteen months ago I deemed it appropriate to write this line:
"Their exclamations of desperate happiness mix with the intensity of their relief and amazement."
Huzzah. Congratulations, I said absolutely nothing. What exclamations? What did they say? And how did they express their relief and amazement? Did they do anything at all? More significantly, when these two volatile ingredients mixed, what was the outcome? Gnashing of teeth or a quick trip to cloud nine?
It's a classic case of telling and not showing, the biggest difference between stories that make you say "meh" and stories you recommend to a friend.
Grumble.
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