About Me

My love of writing goes back to when I was a little girl documenting family vacations in my journal. No matter how the day’s activities unfolded, every entry ended with “and we had fun.” (That includes the day when a cheap purple poncho leaked onto my brand-new Nikes at Niagara Falls.)

Unlike most children, one of my favorite toys was an old typewriter. I loved hearing the clacking of the keys and pretending that I was a big shot news reporter. In middle school and high school, I devoured any opportunity to write — literary staff, the school newspaper, even summer writing camp. All I knew was that I wanted to be a writer.

Eventually I made my way to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where I earned a degree in Journalism and Mass Communication in 1994. Go Heels! I’ve since spent the bulk of my career in the magazine publishing industry, writing and/or editing for publications such as Charlotte magazine, the Charlotte Business Journal, Charlotte Home + Garden, North Carolina Signature, Our State, SouthPark, Today’s Charlotte Woman and US Airways Magazine. Connect with me on LinkedIn.

For ten years, I served as the editor of CURRENTS magazine in the Lake Norman area of North Carolina, my native state. It was there that I honed my essay skills by writing a monthly editor’s note about this and that and so many other things. Upon leaving that publication, I founded a blog called Winks of Goodness, where I try to find the good in every day through essays about anything from the breeze to growing up in a small town. I also served as the editor of Queens Magazine, the biannual alumni publication for Queens University of Charlotte, for two years. Go Royals!

Though my writing has vastly improved since the days of scribbling in journals while riding in the back of my parents’ Buick, I still love constructing stories about what happens as we travel through life. That’s what led me to start Show Don’t Tell Essays in the summer of 2020.

By the time students reach the pinnacle of their high school education, their backpack is full of experiences. Some good, some bad, but almost all of them serve as bricks in their foundation — each one making them who they are. When colleges want to know about students, sure, grades and test scores matter, but essays give applicants the opportunity to share parts of themselves that can’t be reflected in transcripts. And often that’s the part that makes them stand out.

Through my work, I want to help young people translate their experiences into focused essays that will help them get to where they want to go. I also want to help students craft something that they can look back on, something that will show them who they were when they were preparing to embark on the world.

Listening to the hopes, fears, dreams, and experiences of students, I know that everyone has a story to share. Sometimes you just need someone to help you tell it.

Lori K. Tate
Founder and Essay Coach
Show Don’t Tell Essays