Workshops 2025

Class Description

Show AND Tell: A Secret Weapon for Writers

Most writers have heard the advice, “Show, Don’t Tell.” But what does it really mean and how do we use it in our stories? In this workshop, we will review the meaning of Show, Don’t Tell and discuss how this tool helps us connect with readers in a deeper way. We’ll discuss what “tell” looks like and how to change it to “show” using grammar, voice, point of view, and description. We’ll look at Show, Don’t Tell in terms of character and character reactions. This workshop is for any writer in any genre who wants their stories to be tighter and more impactful to their readers.

Students will:

• Understand what the phrase means for their story
• How to identify “telling” prose
• How to convert “telling” to “showing”
• When it is okay to tell
• How to use point of view to heighten Show, Don’t Tell

Leslie J. Hall is the author of the Kaitlyn Willis Road Signs mysteries, a humorous, PG-rated, amateur sleuth series starring a NW code enforcement officer. Her short story, A Strange Rain, will appear in Better Off Dead: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Music of Elton John and Bernie Taupin anthology in December 2025. She also writes women’s fiction. Leslie loves to speak, teach, and share her passion for writing with others. When not writing, Leslie volunteers for writer-related events, leads Write Night (a weekly virtual facilitated critique group), teaches beginning writing at community colleges in continuing ed, and when not doing all of that, hangs out at the beach with a book (or 2!). She lives in Bremerton, WA, with her husband and her pandemic rescue cat, Mia.