Every starting author has probably heard the same statement from an editor, teacher, or the rare publisher that actually renders opinions on your pieces: "There's too much telling." Ah, what a frustrating phrase for the young writer to hear. Unfortunately, all to often the young, aspiring writer is left to draw his or her own conclusions. Is this some statement out of the writer's necronomicon? Is there some password you should reply with?
In fact, this falls into that category of phrases that are easier to understand than explain. I often wish that, as a teenager, someone would have sat the aspiring writer down and explained this. Instead, the few readers who actually rendered useful input confused the implied author with the actual author. It wasn't until I entered grad school and my thirties that I actually understood what was wrong. Here, for your benefit, I will explain several ways beginning authors make these mistakes and correct them in the future.
