Show not tell refers to the writing technique that uses sensory details instead of exposition. In this aspect, vivid descriptions are necessary to engage the readers. Simply put, you don’t just tell the readers what is happening, you also describe signs or manifestations of an event or setting.
Learning how to “Show Don’t Tell” in writing is a bit overwhelming and one of the most difficult techniques as a first-time writer. It requires creativity and a little drama in writing. In order for your narrative to come alive, you may need to play with words to express your idea without having to explicitly write your narrative.
Whether you are about to publish a book, submit an essay, post a status, part of the writing process is a little storytelling and utilizing rich language.
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What does show not tell mean?
“Show, don’t tell” is a rule in creative writing that emphasizes using and showing actions in order to convey a message and an emotion instead of explicitly writing what happened. This creates a better experience for readers reading your writing piece.
It is a writing technique used in various texts that allow readers to experience the story through sensory, words, thoughts, and actions rather than through explicit summarization and description.
Show, don’t tell also fosters a more immersive reading experience and allows the readers to “be in the same room” with the characters. This creates a deeper connection that brings your readers closer to you and/or your main character since your words convey actions and feelings instead of just plain narration.
Here’s a quick example:
Telling: Jennie was frightened by the sound.
Showing: When Jennie first heard the sound, her body froze. She placed her blanket over her head and stay as still and quiet as possible. Her fingers trembled as she struggled to grip the sheets.
When you “tell” what happens, you deprive your readers of the reading experience. As you can see in the “telling”, it simply says that Jennie is frightened. Meanwhile, in the “showing” example, it puts Jennie in the scenario where the fright starts taking place.
Origin of the show don’t tell method
The concept of Show Don’t Tell is attributed to famous Russian Playwrite Anton Chekhov. In a letter to his brother, he said:
“Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass“
What he really meant was: “In descriptions of Nature one must seize on small details, grouping them so that when the reader closes his eyes he gets a picture. For instance, you’ll have a moonlit night if you write that on the mill dam a piece of glass from a broken bottle glittered like a bright little star and that the black shadow of a dog or a wolf rolled past like a ball.“
How to show don’t tell when writing
Now that you’ve read a couple of show don’t tell examples, you can try writing your own piece of passage. Avoiding telling words is a lot harder than one might think. It takes a lot of practice to get into the mind of a reader. Whether you’re writing a fictional novel or a non-fiction piece, it’s necessary to show not tell the events to the reader.
8 best show don’t tell tips to boost your skills
Make sure that you emphasize your show don’t tell skills to make your story more vivid and highly engaging. Here are the eight best tips to show not tell in your writings:
Tip # 1: Write an engaging sensory description
If you are able to make use of the five senses (sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell) in your writing, you are a great creative writer. Adding sensory descriptions is the hallmark of most fiction writers.
You can start by showing the readers what the character or characters look like. Or even better, start by showing rather than telling where the story takes place. Add details that would show or describe important features of the place. This is where showing versus telling is extremely important. You can also use figurative language to provide comparisons of traits.
Tip #2: Avoid using “telling” verbs
A lot of budding writers make this mistake. Telling verbs get the point across, but they’re poor in terms of sensory detail. In fiction writing, you should avoid feeding your reader with words that poorly describe a place, person, or event. Refrain from saying, “she is sad” or “the place is bright and sunny”.
As we mentioned you can use sensory details to emphasize showing versus telling. Instead of saying what your characters are feeling, start showing it. Instead of writing “She is afraid of the dark”, you can use your sense and write how the characters react: “..her knees were shaking and the hair on her arms begin to raise..”. Showing these details makes show don’t tell writing better for a story.
Tip #3: Utilize rich language and vocabulary
To improve your creative writing, it’s necessary to use rich language. Writers don’t simply do this just to show their writing skills to the reader, it also examples an important part of showing details in a story.
To boost the language in your story, give your character’s dialogue. This establishes a more dynamic connection from one character to the next. It also gives them distinct features that set them apart. A tiny detail can help build a character when they’re first introduced in the story. It gives them more life which makes the reader feel more attached to them.
Tip #4: Personify emotion
Personifying your emotions mean giving emotions a more human nature. Feelings don’t take physical form. But in a story, they motivate the characters to do certain and make decisions. Emotions are the strongest part of your story so make sure to show a compelling description for an emotion.
But be careful with how you personify an emotion. For instance, don’t tell that your character is sad, happy, or excited. You must also show an idea that reflects the emotion they’re feeling. A couple of literary devices can help amplify this personification.
Tip #5: Focus on the body language
Have you ever heard of the statement, “Action speaks louder than words”? That is especially true when writing stories. If you want to write a remarkable character, refrain from telling what they’re doing in a scene. Instead, show it to the readers,
For example, don’t tell that your readers that a warrior is fighting a monster. What you want to do is to show the readers how the action is taking place. You can describe the way the warrior is yielding the sword and the movements he does to defend himself.
Tip #6: Don’t be excessive on the details
There are instances where it’s better to simply tell what is happening. There are also scenarios where a show and tell will be more applicable to use. If you want to show a scene, don’t keep adding detail after the next. Simply put, don’t overdo your details because it also makes your writing dull.
You can do the “telling” technique for scenes that don’t have a monumental effect on the story. You can also use show and tell if you want to elaborate on the character’s intent.
Tip# 7: Choose your words carefully
If you want to start showing instead of telling, choose the right words in your stories. You can start by choosing the right adjectives to describe a person or a scene. To use dialogue, make sure that your words match the language you project in your drama or novel.
Look back at our show don’t tell examples in the following sections. From there, you’ll learn how certain words were used to describe an event or a person. Each example will help you create realistic descriptions that could boost your story. Make sure to also practice using new words into sentences so you can play around with the meaning in every context.
Tip #8: Read more books
Those who want to become better writers must be good readers first. You can try reading 30 books in 30 days to kickstart your journey. This will help you find inspiration to become better in your craft.
You can also enrich your vocabulary by reading Harry Potter books. Try out various genres to discover more gems in writing. Reading various books also exposes you to various writing styles. A great type of book to read is novels because they tend to be more descriptive with each chapter.
Show don’t tell examples
Every novel boasts its own unique set of characteristics that emphasize show not tell. If you want to learn how to show rather than tell, the best way is to learn from the experts. Let’s take a look at how certain authors write particular scenes in a book. Take note of each example to learn from each one.
Stephen King’s It
Now here he was, chasing his boat down the left of Witcham Street. He was running fast but the water was running faster and his boat was pulling ahead. He heard a deepening roar and saw that fifty yards farther down the hill the water in the gutter was cascading into a storm drain that was still open. It was a long dark semi-circle cut into the curbing, and as Georgie watched, a stripped branch, its bark as dark and glistening as sealskin, shot into the storm drain’s maw.
Example from Reedsy Blog
Read this example from Stephen King’s novel, IT. The scene describes how fast the rain was pouring by comparing it to George’s speed. It’s been noted that he was running fast, but the water was running faster. To tickle the sense of hearing, King used the words deepening roar to amplify the threat of the drain. This moment in the book focuses on the looming terror George is about to experience.
Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist
A dirtier or more wretched place he had never seen. The street was very narrow and muddy, and the air was impregnated with filthy odours. There were a good many small shops; but the only stock in trade appeared to be heaps of children, who, even at that time of night, were crawling in and out at the doors, or screaming from the inside. The sole places that seemed to prosper amid the general blight of the place, were the public-houses… Oliver was just considering whether he hadn’t better run away, when they reached the bottom of the hill.
Example from Reedsy Blog
This moment in the book Oliver Twist has descriptions to match almost every sense. The author used the phrase filthy odours to describe the unappealing smell in the setting. There’s also a sentence describing screaming from the inside. In this example, the visual descriptions are also vibrant. Narrow and muddy were used to describe the streets. It gives a sense of suffocation where there is only a little space to breathe.
Zadie Smith’s White Teeth
Archie scrabbling up the stairs, as usual cursing and blinding, wilting under the weight of boxes that Clara could carry two, three at a time without effort; Clara taking a break, squinting in the warm May sunshine, trying to get her bearings. She peeled down to a little purple vest and leaned against her front gate. What kind of a place was this? That was the thing, you see, you couldn’t be sure.
Example from Reedsy Blog
The example above takes root from the idea of moving houses. When people move their belonging from one place to another, there is chaos and confusion. There’s also the feeling of rush. As you can see in the sentences, the author makes the moment feel very chaotic. It perfectly captures the dramatic real-life scenario of moving houses. Note the Zadie Smith’s White Teeth was also written in a stream of consciousness. It takes a lot of practice to master this style so take some time to fine-tune your skills.
Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl
My morning breath warmed the pillow, and I changed the subject in my mind. Today was not a day for second-guessing or regret, it was a day for doing. Downstairs, I could hear the return of a long-lost sound: Amy making breakfast. Banging wooden cupboards (rump-thump!), rattling containers of tin and glass (ding-ring!), shuffling and sorting a collection of metal pots and iron pans (ruzz-shuzz!). A culinary orchestra tuning up, clattering vigorously toward the finale.
Example from Reedsy Blog
The example from Gone Girl uses literary devices to produce better descriptions. The term culinary orchestra was used as a metaphor for the noises in the kitchen. It’s also a form of irony since an orchestra is normally pleasant to the ears. There are also examples of onomatopoeia (rump-thump! and ruzz-shuzz!) to make the reader “hear” what Nick was hearing. Scenes like this one help the reader imagine the moment by appealing to the senses. It makes the entire book come to life
Improving your show don’t tell technique helps you develop into a better writer. And what’s a better way to improve your skills other than to see famous examples? Here are some show don’t tell examples that would help you build your writing skills in showing rather than telling:
Ernest Hemingway
Nobel Prize winner, Ernest Hemingway is a notable proponent of the “show, don’t tell” technique.
If you aren’t familiar with his “Iceberg Theory” or the “theory of omission” it actually meant keeping minimalistic writing without having to explicitly discuss the underlying themes. In his book, Death in the Afternoon, Hemingway states that:
If a writer of prose knows enough of what he is writing about he may omit things that he knows and the reader, if the writer is writing truly enough, will have a feeling of those things as strongly as though the writer had stated them. The dignity of movement of an iceberg is due to only one-eighth of it being above water.
Creative writing or creative literature is completely different from technical writing and objective journalism. It involves making use of artistic ways and literary devices (inference, metaphor, understatement, unreliable narrator, and ambiguity) that will give the reader an immersive reading experience.
What the author chooses to leave unsaid, untold, and unshown shows a sense of mystery that suggests a form of respect for the reader who should be able to unlock the translation and unlock the meaning behind these actions.
Chuck Palahniuk
The author of Fight Club recommends what he calls “thought verbs” such as thinks, knows, understands, realizes, believes, wants, remembers, imagines, desires… instead of using specific sensory detail words like action, smell, taste, sound, and feeling.
For him, it’s important to show not tell because this makes the story more immersive for readers. The key to writing a “show don’t tell” story is to use sensory details and using the right words.
James Scott Bell
In Exceptions to the Rule, James Scott Bell argues:
“Sometimes a writer tells as a shortcut, to move quickly to the meaty part of the story or scene. Showing is essentially about making scenes vivid. If you try to do it constantly, the parts that are supposed to stand out won’t, and your readers will get exhausted.”
He believes in the power of both “show” and “tell.”
The difference between showing and telling is: showing requires more words and telling sometimes gets the point more clearly. A well-written narrative can contain sentences with some telling. It’s helpful to use both showing and telling especially when you know when to use these two.
Orson Scott Card
According to Orson Scott Card, the most are important scenes are supposed to be theatrical and dramatized. Sometimes, showing can be time-consuming and it should only be used for dramatic scenes. It’s important to find the right balance between showing vs. telling; explicit writing and action.
Yves Lavandier
In his book Constructing a Story, Yves Lavandier says that dialogue is a great opportunity to “show”. He takes examples from a scene in Prison Break which includes pure dialogue between Michael Scofield and Tweener where they show that Tweener is an expert pickpocket.
What Makes Show Don’t Tell Important
Show don’t tell is important for a variety of reasons. But the best one is the fact that it gives the readers something to think about, something to feel, and something to look forward to. The magic of writing will always remain as the world’s best gift to man.
Using the show don’t tell techniques is helpful in various ways. For instance, it helps improve character development. Instead of listing down a character’s physical features and personality, give them a voice.
For example, don’t simply say that a character’s major trait is being kind. Try showing examples of this kindness by showing a scene where the character is helping others or being generous.
Show don’t tell helps writers create an immersive experience for the readers. By adding the right description, they can make a setting more appealing. They can make a fictional world appear more realistic. The best part is, it enables a reader to imagine the story by showing a scene rather than telling it.
Whether you’re starting a blog or your own novel, using the show don’t tell technique will help you create better content. Once you’re done reading the tips and samples in this blog, you’re guaranteed to bring your writing skills to new heights. So start today and kickstart your writing journey with this technique!
