Conference
Beyond "Show, Don't Tell" with Mary Kole
Jun 16th & 23rd, 2026
Save up to 80% with a Membership.
12-month access $399
Enjoy 12 months of exclusive access to events with bestselling authors and top publishing professionals from the Reedsy Marketplace.
📚 Overview
You’ve probably heard the advice “show, don’t tell” a million times as a writer. But what many writers don’t know is that it's oversimplified and incomplete — even harmful if interpreted too literally. Instead of treating “telling” as bad writing, this workshop with editor Mary Kole reframes it as an essential storytelling tool used intentionally by professional authors.
Across two in-depth sessions, Mary Kole will explore the nuanced relationship between showing and telling in fiction, and how to master this technique to improve voice, character development, and pacing in your work. There will also be take-home assignments between sessions where you can apply what you’ve learned.
Good storytelling is not the absence of telling — it’s understanding the different functions telling performs and using them deliberately.
The event takes place over two days, on June 16th and June 23rd.
🎓 What You'll Learn
Schedule
June 16th, 2026 • 3pm - 5pm EDT
Why “Show, Don’t Tell” is Incomplete — and What Good Telling Actually Does
This first session dismantles one of the most enduring — and misunderstood — pieces of writing advice in modern creative writing culture: “show, don’t tell.” Rather than treating telling as weak writing, we will explore how professional authors use telling strategically to shape pacing, deepen interiority, strengthen voice, and guide emotional meaning on the page. You’ll leave with a practical framework for identifying different types of telling in your own work and using them with greater intention.
June 23rd, 2026 • 3pm - 5pm EDT
Show and Tell in Practice
On day two, we will move from theory into application, exploring how showing and telling function across the actual mechanics of storytelling. Rather than treating “show vs. tell” as a rigid rule, this workshop examines how writers calibrate pacing, emotional emphasis, scene construction, voice, and narrative distance depending on the needs of the moment.
Using guided examples, writing exercises, and revision strategies, you will learn how to intentionally balance dramatization and narration in order to create stronger emotional resonance, clearer storytelling, and more dynamic prose.
Speakers
Mary Kole
Developmental editor and former literary agent
Former literary agent Mary Kole provides consulting and developmental editing services to writers of all categories and genres. She founded Good Story Company in 2019 to create valuable content for writers. She also develops unique and commercial intellectual property for middle grade, young adult, and adult readers with Bittersweet Books. Mary holds an MFA in Creative Writing and has worked at Chronicle Books, the Andrea Brown Literary Agency, and Movable Type Management.
