#show vs tell
Don’t say it was “delightful”; make us say “delightful” when we’ve read the description. –C.S. Lewis
I found this great piece of writing advice from C.S. Lewis on twitter today.(courtesy of @thatboycanteach)
I know the phrase “show don’t tell” confuses a lot of people who are new to critiquing/workshops, because all writing is telling… isn’t it?
But this is exactly what writers are talking about when they use that phrase.
This is also why, when critiquing your work, writers might tell you to remove adjectives and adverbs, or why you might hear that those two types of words are “bad writing.” It’s not that you’re neverallowed to use an adjective or an adverb, but that–like Lewis says–it’s much more preferable to beterrified, than to be told something is terrifying.
Whenever you tell your reader what the characters in a story are experiencing, instead of letting your reader have an experience alongside your characters, you miss an opportunity to invite your reader into the story. If you miss too many, eventually your reader will stop waiting for their invitation and simply leave.
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Describing characters can be a little bit of a ‘telling’ minefield. While you are almost certainly going to end up with some ‘told’ description of a character, try to keep it to a minimum, ‘showing’ things about their appearance through action and dialogue instead.
Examples:
Instead of ‘She was short’, use ‘She clambered onto the chair, her legs dangling several inches above the floor’
Instead of ‘He was tall’, use ‘He ducked under the doorway’
Instead of ‘He was a smoker’, use ‘He shook my hand, his yellowed fingers leaving the scent of cigarettes on mine’
Instead of ‘She had bad teeth’, use ‘She laughed, instinctively covering her open mouth with her hand’
So you see how a lot of information can be shown to your readers rather than simply told to them.
And remember that your readers have imaginations, imaginations that they enjoy using. Let them fill in the gaps - don’t give them a detailed head to toe description laying out mole and strand of hair.
Hello! I’m having a hard time with my writing. I seem to be having trouble with the whole “show, don’t tell” thing. If you could help me out, I’d really appreciate it. - anonymous
Show, Don’t Tell is simply a way of letting your reader connect to your plot, your setting and your characters better. It enriches your writing, but it also runs the risk of sounding boring to some readers.
First of all, Use it only when relevant and with caution. Overusing this method might make it look like you’re trying to show off your writing skills. But most of all - and this is the real risk of using this method - it make take the focus out of the story and slow down your plot. Specially when you’re writing an action scene, there’s nothing wrong with telling instead of showing. When you need fast-paced narrative, it might be a better idea to keep Show Don’t Tell to a minimum. Also, when there is no reason why your reader needs to connect with a certain place, story or character, don’t shove too much information down their throats. It’s always better to save this method to when it’s relevant.
Now, some real tips on how to master this method:
- Ask yourself what makes you say your character is *personality or physical trait* If you’re creating a stubborn character, ask yourself what makes you say your character is stubborn. In what aspects of this character’s daily life does it show that they’re stubborn? List those aspects, and incorporate them into your scenes - when relevant.
- Appeal to your reader’s senses. This is one of the best ways of putting your reader in your setting. If your character tastes, sees or smells something, let your reader figure out what it is alongside your character. Give your readers enough information for them to perceive the setting just like your character does, instead of simply telling them what’s around.
- Symbolism. Symbolism is a subtle way of showing instead of telling that works really well when you’re trying to hint at something that is going to be disclosed in the future or you simply want to leave your readers guessing. I have a full article on symbolism, that you can find here.
- Back story. Giving your readers a glimpse into what your character’s life or personality was like before your story started is also a way of show don’t tell. It helps your readers understand your characters, their motives and goals better.
- Let your readers judge your characters or settings. To me, this is one of the key points of this method. Try to be impartial when describing a setting or a character (when appropriate), because it helps your readers to form their own opinions. If you describe a certain character’s actions to your reader and leave it up to them to decide if that makes them a reckless, angry, stubborn, prideful, etc character, they will feel more connected and you’ll be a master of show don’t tell.
Also, there are really good resources about it scattered around tumblr - and the internet in general. So I put together a handful of really interesting articles on the matter that might help.
- What The F*ck Does Show Not Tell Mean? - FYWH
- Show Don’t Tell - Personality Traits - My article.
- Show Don’t Tell: A Whiteboard Writing Lesson
- Show Don’t Tell
- Show Don’t Tell: Robert J. Sawyer
- Grammar Girl: Show Don’t Tell
- Show, Don’t Tell
- The First Rule of Writing
- Writing in Pictures using the Show, don’t tell Rule
- Show Don’t Tell - But How?
- The Secret to Show, Don’t Tell
- Writing Tips: Show Don’t Tell
- “Show, Don’t Tell!” - Writeworld
- “Tell” Makes a Great Placeholder - Writeworld
- The Literary Merit of the Grilled Cheese Sandwich - Writeworld
- Show Don’t Tell (#describethingsdamit) - Writer’s Yoga
- Show, Don’t Tell - Stephanie Grand
I really hope this was useful! All in all, just let your characters and settings speak for themselves.
Unpopular writing opinion: sometimes, telling is okay.
Sometimes authors try so hard to show instead of telling that the writing becomes convoluted and difficult to understand. Sometimes, simplicity is all you need.
