Today marks one year since Read the Stars Developmental Editing was officially born as a company! I’d been editing for long before that, but this was the official, legal start of having my own business to connect with and serve writers around the world.

This past year has gone by dizzyingly fast, and yet so much has happened all the same. I’ve learned so much, and had the privilege of working with so many authors, outliners, and creators. It’s truly been an incredible journey and I’ve been honored and grateful to get to work with every single person I did.

I have big plans for 2023, including ramping up work on educational resources and materials on my website, and doing even more outreach with the creative writing community.

One of the most frequent go-tos touted to struggling authors is: “Show, don’t tell.” It’s become almost a holy grail among the writing community, a standard bit of advice that is pushed onto new authors. But what does that line really mean? And how, exactly, does one actually go about showing, instead of telling?

If you were to ask most people, their response would be in regard to description. "Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass,” a quote most often attributed to Anton Chekhov, is another beloved pet phrase among writers wanting to help their peers. And while the quote is indeed poignant, show vs tell goes much deeper than just adding more description.