Writing a Warriors Fanfiction: The Complete Guide

Show, Don't Tell

This is something you've probably heard far too often. "Show, don't tell!"

But what does this mean? The Show, Don't Tell rule basically means that you should show us the message you're getting across, not outright saying it. You need to prove to your claims to your audience, not just tell it to them and expect them to believe it. This applies the most to describing how the characters feel.

Telling: "Olivepaw was so mad."
Showing: "Olivepaw glared and flattened her ears against her head, baring her teeth."

The best way to know if you're showing enough is by writing a sentence that tells what you want to get across, and then think, "How do I know that [x] is happening?" and write about the signs you see.

There are some limits to this rule, though. There's no need to show us boring things like walking to a place or opening a door. For those kinds of cases, you can just tell us. This is the only time that telling is acceptable.

The hardest time to stick to this rule is when you have to show things in the longer term. You have to somehow show the character's overall personality throughout the course of the story. You have to prove to us that they have a certain quality. But how? The method we just established helps in this.

Telling: "Stormclaw is strong."
Showing: "Brightleaf was stuck under the ShadowClan cat's grip. She waited for death, until a gray blur knocked off the warrior. It was Stormclaw! The ShadowClan cat suddenly didn't seem so confident. He tried to wrestle Stormclaw into the ground, but he couldn't even budge him. Instead, Stormclaw knocked him off a few tail-lengths away with just a small push."

This takes a lot more time, but it will make your writing so much better.