Tips to "Show, Don't Tell" Emotions and Moods. If you’re like me, one of the main reasons you read is to receive an emotional transference from the author. ![]() Dream Moods is the only free online source you need to discover the meanings to your dreams. Check out our ever expanding dream dictionary, fascinating discussion. Nobody wants to die. But its hard to go from wanting to die to suddenly being cheered up. If you say, “I want to die” and everyone else says, “Oh, cheer up. Alexander Joseph "Lex" Luthor is a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, though on occasions he has established himself as. ![]() You love books that don’t just make you think, that don’t just entertain, but that make you feel something. Photo by Alyssa L. Miller. It’s the magic of reading: that an author can arrange a series of letters in a certain order and that these letters can affect our emotions. As a writer, how do you develop mood in a short story or in the chapter of your novel without telling? Is it possible to build up emotional language while following the advice “Show, Don’t Tell”? In other words, can you make your readers feel something without writing like Stephenie Meyer or E. L. James? How to “Show, Don’t Tell” with Emotion. I’ve been studying Roberto Bolaño’s short story “Gómez Palacio” from the New Yorker, and it’s a clinic on how to show emotion and mood without telling. Edgar Allen Poe said this about how to write a short story, “A short story must have a single mood and every sentence must build towards it.”The mood of “Gómez Palacio” is failure and the other emotions that come with it, like self- pity, paranoia, and depression. The twenty- three year old narrator feels he has already washed up and has exiled himself to a sparse town in the deserts of northern Mexico. Here are three ways Bolaño builds up a single mood without telling: 1. Write about motivation. Orscon Scott Card says one of the best ways to characterize is by talking about motivation. Instead of writing specifically about feelings, write about why your characters are doing the things they’re doing. Here’s an example from “Gómez Palacio”: I don’t know why I accepted. I knew that under no circumstances would I settle down in Gómez Palacio. I knew that I wouldn’t stick to running a writing workshop in some godforsaken town in northern Mexico. Show, don’t tell” action that reveals the mood. Throughout the story, Balaño’s narrator reveals how paranoid he is. However, he never explicitly says, “I was so paranoid.” Instead, he builds the mood through action. Here’s an example of how Bolaño brilliantly shows the author’s paranoia: I found it hard to sleep at night. I had nightmares. Before going to bed, I would make sure the door and the windows of my room were securely and tightly shut…. Then I went back to bed and closed my eyes, but having drunk so much water I soon had to get up again to urinate. And since I was up I would check all the locks. This works so well because instead of using the word paranoid, he shows the author doing paranoid things. And later, it says: When we came out of the classroom, the director was waiting with two guys who turned out to be civil servants employed by the state of Durango. My first thought was: They’re policemen, here to arrest me. Show, don’t tell” through description. This is probably my favorite part of the story. And you’ll notice there’s a little bit of telling in this, but it works because there’s so much showing as well: On the horizon I could see the highway disappearing into the hills. Night was beginning to approach from the east. Days before, at the motel, I had asked myself, What color is the desert at night? A stupid question, yet somehow I felt it held the key to my future, or perhaps not so much my future as my capacity for suffering. Later on, we get even more description of the night, and the description reveals the dark thoughts of the narrator while also making the, somehow, beautiful. To use description to build mood, ask yourself what your character would notice in their state of mind. Focus on colors that seem to show his mood. Think of your sentences like brush strokes, and you’re painting a landscape filled with emotion. Now That You’ve Shown, Do Tell. As important as it is to “show, don’t tell,” there are situations where it’s better to tell, don’t show. For example, here is the very first sentence of “Gómez Palacio”: I went to Gómez Palacio during one of the worst periods of my life. That’s about as tell- y as you can get, but it works. Sometimes a short burst of telling can be worth paragraphs of showing. Your job as a writer is to figure out when to use which. PRACTICEPractice writing about a mood. Write for fifteen minutes. When you’re finished, post your practice in the comments section. And if you post, please be sure to comment on a few pieces by other writers. Have fun! (Unless you’re writing about sadness. Then, don’t have fun.). Lex Luthor - Wikipedia. Alexander Joseph "Lex" Luthor is a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, though on occasions he has established himself as an antihero. He was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Lex Luthor first appeared in Action Comics #2. April 1. 94. 0) and has since endured as the archenemy of Superman.[1]Lex Luthor is a wealthy, power- mad American business magnate, ingenious engineer, philanthropist to the city of Metropolis, and one of the most intelligent people in the world. A charismatic and well- known public figure, he is the owner of a corporation called Lex. Corp, with Mercy Graves as his personal assistant and bodyguard. He is intent on ridding the world of the alien Superman, whom Lex Luthor views as an obstacle to his megalomaniacal plans and as a threat to the very existence of humanity.[2] Given his high status as a supervillain, he often comes into conflict with Batman and other superheroes in the DC Universe.[3] The character was originally introduced as a diabolical recluse but was later reimagined by writers during the Modern Age as a devious, high- profile industrialist. Lex Luthor has traditionally lacked superpowers or a dual identity and typically appears with a bald head.[3] He periodically wears his Warsuit, a high- tech battle suit giving him enhanced strength, flight, advanced weaponry, and other capabilities.[4] Luthor has carefully crafted his public persona in order to avoid suspicion and arrest. He is well known for his philanthropy, donating vast sums of money to Metropolis over the years, funding parks, foundations, and charities.[5]The character was ranked 4th on IGN's list of the Top 1. Comic Book Villains of All Time[6] and as the 8th Greatest Villain by Wizard on its 1. Greatest Villains of All Time list.[7] Luthor is one of a few genre- crossing villains whose adventures take place "in a world in which the ordinary laws of nature are slightly suspended".[4]Scott James Wells, Sherman Howard, John Shea, Clancy Brown, and Michael Rosenbaum portrayed the character in Superman- themed television series, while Lyle Talbot, Gene Hackman, Kevin Spacey, and Jesse Eisenberg have portrayed the character in major motion pictures. Publication history[edit]Creation and development[edit]In his first appearance, Action Comics #2. April 1. 94. 0), Luthor is depicted as a diabolical genius and is referred to only by his surname. He resides in a flying city suspended by a dirigible and plots to provoke a war between two European nations. Lois Lane and Clark Kent investigate, which results in Lois being kidnapped. Luthor battles Superman with a green ray but Luthor is ultimately defeated by him, and Lois is rescued. Superman destroys Luthor's dirigible with him still on it, implying Luthor may have died, although stories ending with Luthor's apparent death are common in his earliest appearances.[8]Luthor returns in Superman #4 and steals a weapon from the U. S. Army that is capable of causing earthquakes. Superman battles and defeats Luthor, and the earthquake device is destroyed by Superman. The scientist who made the device commits suicide to prevent its reinvention. In a story in the same issue, Luthor is also shown to have created a city on the sunken Lost Continent of Pacifo and to have recreated prehistoric monsters, which he plans to unleash upon the world. Superman thwarts his plans, and Luthor appears to have been killed by the dinosaurs he created. Luthor returns in Superman #5 with a plan to place hypnotic gas in the offices of influential people. He intends to throw the nation into a depression with the help of corrupt financier Moseley, but the story ends with Superman defeating him. In these early stories, Luthor's schemes are centered around financial gain or megalomaniacal ambitions; unlike most later incarnations, he demonstrates no strong animosity toward Superman beyond inevitable resentment of Superman's constant interference with his plans. Luthor's obsessive hatred of Superman came later in the character's development. In Luthor's earliest appearances, he is shown as a middle- aged man with a full head of red hair. Less than a year later, however, an artistic mistake resulted in Luthor being depicted as completely bald in a newspaper strip.[9] The original error is attributed to Leo Nowak, a studio artist who illustrated for the Superman dailies during this period.[1. One hypothesis is that Nowak mistook Luthor for the Ultra- Humanite, a frequent foe of Superman who, in his Golden Age incarnation, resembled a balding, elderly man.[1. Other evidence suggests Luthor's design was confused with that of a stockier, bald henchman in Superman #4 (Spring 1. Luthor's next appearance occurs in Superman #1. May 1. 94. 1), in which Nowak depicted him as significantly heavier, with visible jowls.[1. The character's abrupt hair loss has been made reference to several times over the course of his history. When the concept of the DC multiverse began to take hold, Luthor's red- haired incarnation was rewritten as Alexei Luthor, Lex's counterpart from the Earth- Twoparallel universe. In 1. 96. 0, writer Jerry Siegel altered Luthor's backstory to incorporate his hair loss into his origin. Luthor as he appears in Superman #4 (1. In 1. 94. 4 Lex Luthor was the first character in a comic book (and one of the first in fiction) to use an atomic bomb. The United States Department of War asked this story line be delayed from publication, which it was until 1. Manhattan Project.[1. The War Department later asked for dailies of the Superman comic strip to be pulled in April 1. Lex Luthor bombarding Superman with the radiation from a cyclotron.[1. Luthor vanished for a long time, coming back in Superboy #5. Sept 1. 95. 7), in a story called "Superboy meets Amazing Man". A flying costumed bald man probably in his forties appears in Smallville and starts helping people using his fantastic inventions. He later moves his operations to the nearby town of Hadley. Superboy finds he is using his inventions to set the town up so he can rob their bank, and stops him. In the last panel, Amazing Man is in jail and he tells Superboy he will regret it as sure as his name is Luthor and Superboy thinks that he will be Superman by the time he gets out and that Luthor's talents might make him an arch enemy. In the origin story printed in Adventure Comics #2. April 1. 96. 0), young Lex Luthor is shown as an aspiring scientist who resides in Smallville, the hometown of Superboy. The teenage Luthor saves Superboy from a chance encounter with kryptonite. In gratitude Superboy builds Luthor a laboratory, where weeks later he manages to create an artificial life- form, which Luthor loved as if it were his own child. Grateful in turn to Superboy, Luthor creates an antidote for kryptonite poisoning. However, an accidental fire breaks out in Luthor's lab. Superboy uses his super- breath to extinguish the flames, inadvertently spilling chemicals which cause Luthor to go bald; in the process, he also destroys Luthor's artificial life form. Believing Superboy intentionally destroyed his discoveries, Luthor attributes his actions to jealousy and vows revenge. Luthor's revenge first came in the form of grandiose engineering projects in Smallville to prove his superiority over the superhero. However, the gesture proves a failure on multiple levels; for one, Superboy does not feel belittled, but instead is gladly supportive of Luthor pursuing his vindictive goal constructively. Furthermore, those projects also each go disastrously out of control and require Superboy's intervention, which Luthor rationalized as being sabotaged by the superhero. These mounting embarrassments further deepen Lex's hate for Superboy for supposedly further humiliating him, and he unsuccessfully attempts to murder the superhero.[1. This revised origin makes Luthor's fight with Superman a personal one, and suggests that if events had unfolded differently, Luthor might have been a more noble person. These elements were played up in various stories throughout the 1. Elliot S. Maggin's novel Last Son of Krypton.[1. This revenge causes Luthor's family to disown him and change their names to Thorul. It also leads to years of Superman, Luthor, and Supergirl concealing the truth from Luthor's sister, Lena Thorul. She was told her brother died in a rock- climbing accident. She has ESP powers due to touching one of Luthor's inventions.
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