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Show or tell?

Starting a piece of writing can be the most difficult bit. The way I see it, there are two possible approaches: start big or start small. A ‘big beginning’ tells the reader something. A big beginning says: ‘The Juan de Fuca fault line could present the greatest geophysical hazard to Western Canada.’ There’s nothing wrong with a big beginning. But sometimes, a small beginning can be effective. A small beginning shows the reader something: a scene, a process, a case study. A small beginning says: ‘Fifty miles from Victoria, British Columbia, the earth is splitting. Steam shoots out of fissures in the sea bed and heats the surrounding seawater to over 400°C.’ A big beginning packs a punch, while having something concrete to visualize helps convey the significance of your ideas.

Heather Dyer
22 November 2018


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