Show, Don't Tell

Ugh. That statement makes my skin crawl. I realize that it is perfectly legitimate, sound advice but it's easier said than done. They are called story-tellers after all, not story showers. *Deep Breath* Okay, I feel better now.

In my quest to become a better writer, I've seen this advice given time and time again, which is good, but I needed a bit more detail as to what exactly that meant. So I scoured the web and found a blog that I think explained it best...and for the life of me, I can't find the link. For some stupid reason I didn't bookmark the page and my history clears every time I close my browser. I can even remember what it looked like but not the name. Grr.

So, I found an alternative that was just as good by Florence Osmund

Here's an example of what it said:

Telling - He was really tired.

Showing - He slouched way down in the recliner, his eyes struggling to stay open, his hand gradually losing its grip on the Miller Light.

Although simple, it actually did help quite a bit. It definitely paints a better picture. I realized I actually had done quite a bit of telling and not showing, so I went back through my second book and was able to expand a lot more and hopefully (fingers crossed) it's much better.

Do you have problems like this with your writing? What tips have helped you?