Show, Don’t Tell

by Lyndon Perry

“Read to me what you’ve channeled so far,” she says.

I clear my throat. Death and destruction awaits the one...

“Cliché.” My muse frowns. “What else?”

I fumble at my manuscript and turn a page. Blindly, the Mummy exits the tomb...

“Derivative,” she says.

“But these are your ideas!” I protest.

“My ideas. Your anemic attempts.”

“This is my first stab at horror,” I rationalize.

“Ah then,” she nods. “First rule of fiction — write what you know.”

“Could you tell me how?” I ask.

My muse produces a stiletto. “Here, let me show you instead.”

Copyright © 2007 by Lyndon Perry