> When I write, “Bob was an asshole,” and then, feeling this perhaps somewhat lacking in specificity, revise it to read, “Bob snapped impatiently at the barista,” then ask myself, seeking yet more specificity, why Bob might have done that, and revise to, “Bob snapped impatiently at the young barista, who reminded him of his dead wife,” and then pause and add, “who he missed so much, especially now, at Christmas,” – I didn’t make that series of changes because I wanted the story to be more compassionate. I did it because I wanted it to be less lame.
Chuck Palahniuk (author of Fight Club) suggests a similar exercise for writers [1].
> From this point forward – at least for the next half year – you may not use “thought” verbs.
> You can’t write: Kenny wondered if Monica didn’t like him going out at night…”
> Instead, you’ll have to Un-pack that to something like: “The mornings after Kenny had stayed out, beyond the last bus, until he’d had to bum a ride or pay for a cab and got home to find Monica faking sleep, faking because she never slept that quiet, those mornings, she’d only put her own cup of coffee in the microwave. Never his.”
Writing "Bob was an asshole" or "Kenny wondered if Monica didn’t like him going out at night." is lazy writing and stops us from exploring the characters and getting to know them.
In the same post, Chuck says: "Thinking is abstract. Knowing and believing are intangible. Your story will always be stronger if you just show the physical actions and details of your characters and allow your reader to do the thinking and knowing. And loving and hating."
[1] https://litreactor.com/essays/chuck-palahniuk/nuts-and-bolts...