2. Reveal your feelings and thinking
โI was overcome with panic that
sheโd see me and call out my
nameโฆโ (Walls 1).
Tell what you are feeling
3. Reveal your feelings and thinking
โI slid down in the seat and asked the
driver to turn around and take me
home to Park Avenueโฆโ (Walls 1).
Show how you are
feeling through actions
4. Reveal your feelings and thinking
โWhat could I do? Iโd tried to help
them countless timesโฆโ (Walls 1).
Ask a question
5. Make the subject come alive
โโฆthe apartment was silent except
for the click of my heels on the
polished wood floorโฆโ (Walls 1).
What do you hear?
6. Make the subject come alive
โThere were the Georgian maps Iโd
framed, the Persian rugs, and the
overstuffed leather armchair I liked
to sink into at the end of the dayโ
(Walls 1).
What do you see?
7. Make the subject come alive
โHer long hair was streaked with
gray, tangled and matted, and her
eyes had sunk deep into their
socketsโฆโ (Walls 1).
What do you see?
8. Bring out the relationship
โI was still rattledโฆthe sight of her
rooting happily through the
Dumpster. I put some Vivaldi onโฆโ
(Walls 1).
Show a contrast
9. Bring out the relationship
โIt had been months since I laid eyes
on Mom, and when she looked up, I
was overcome with panicโฆโ
(Walls 1).
Time and Feelings
10. Recall a memory
โMomโs gestures were all familiarโ
the way she tilted her head and
thrust out her lower lipโฆthe way
her eyes widened in childish
gleeโฆโ (Walls 1).
Physical attributes
11. Recall a memory
โโฆshe reminded me of the mom
sheโd been when I was a kid, swan-
diving off cliffs and paining in the
desert and reading Shakespeare
aloudโ (Walls 1).
Actions
12. Focus on authorโs experience โฆnot
the event itself.
โAfter ducking down in the taxi so Mom
wouldnโt see me, I hated myselfโ
hated my antiques, my clothes, and
my apartmentโ (Walls 1).
Consider the effect the
event has on the author
13. Focus on authorโs experience โฆnot
the event itself.
โI felt my shoulders tightening up, the
way they invariably did during these
conversationsโฆโ (Walls 1).
Show the effect
through an action