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Show & Tell in a Nutshell: Demonstrated Transitions from Telling to Showing

(Writing in a Nutshell #1)

Jessica Bell (Goodreads Author)

4.11 · Rating details · 110 ratings · 32 reviews

Alternative cover edition
ISBN: 1480234478

*Note: This is a pocket guide. Its trim size is 4" x 6"

Have you been told there's a little too much telling in your novel? Want to remedy it? Then this is the book for you!

In Show & Tell in a Nutshell: Demonstrated Transitions from Telling to Showing you will find sixteen real scenes depicting a variety of situations, emotions, ...more

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Paperback, 102 pages

Published (first published November 6th 2012)

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Apr 01, 2013 Lura rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Any writer who struggles with showing versus telling

Shelves: nonfiction, writing

I don't know why I didn't review this book earlier. I read it right after I got it earlier this year.

This little book is a great resource with 16 examples scenes. Each scene has two versions: telling and showing. After reading each scene, I spent a couple of minutes analyzing the showing version to figure out why it works so well and how I can do it. My writing has already improved.

The differences in the two scene versions are obvious. Ms. Bell makes it look so simple. However, telling is easier ...more

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Dec 25, 2015 Megan Ellis rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Very helpful! I learned a lot from this book! This is going to help me out with all my writing in the future!

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Nov 25, 2012 Alex Cavanaugh rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Simple and to the point - Jessica really shows you how to show rather than tell with excellent examples. The light bulb will go off and you'll understand!

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Nov 12, 2012 Aurora rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: first-reads, the-g-series

Title of the book: Show & Tell in a Nutshell; Demonstrated Transitions from Telling to Showing

Author: Jessica Bell

Publisher: Vine Leaves Press

Publishing Date: 2012

ISBN: 978-1480234475

Summary:

(from goodreads)

Have you been told there's a little too much telling in your novel? Want to remedy it? Then this is the book for you!

In Show & Tell in a Nutshell: Demonstrated Transitions from Telling to Showing you will find sixteen real scenes depicting a variety of situations, emotions, and charac ...more

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Nov 05, 2017 Glenn Younger rated it liked it · review of another edition

Makes its point

If you’re a beginner at writing and don’t understand the basic difference between showing and telling, this could be a good start for your understanding.

It’s simple. Straightforward. And even if the showing scenes are sometimes not that well written, they do make their point.

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Mar 13, 2018 F.D. Green rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Show and tell in a nutshell...

For the love of me I never really understood the concept of show and tell... This short book helped a little... I've read it twice and probably will keep Reading it until I get it right!

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Apr 17, 2018 Heather rated it really liked it

Shelves: highly-rated, non-fiction

Very useful. Trying to figure out the difference between telling and showing has been an ongoing frustration for me in writing.

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Jul 03, 2018 Analiesa Adams rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Very good explanation of the show vs. tell conundrum writers struggle with in their writing. I would recommend putting this one on your book shelves for continuous use.

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Jan 26, 2013 Anstice Brown rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: ebooks, owned, non-fiction

One of the most common pieces of advice given to aspiring writers is to ‘show, not tell’. But what exactly does this mean? The phrase is repeated throughout countless blogs, articles and writing handbooks, yet it is seldom explained in enough detail to be beneficial. For a long time, I had the vague notion that it encouraged writers to explain a character’s actions rather than to describe their thoughts and feelings, but I never fully understood how I could implement this as a technique in my wr One of the most common pieces of advice given to aspiring writers is to ‘show, not tell’. But what exactly does this mean? The phrase is repeated throughout countless blogs, articles and writing handbooks, yet it is seldom explained in enough detail to be beneficial. For a long time, I had the vague notion that it encouraged writers to explain a character’s actions rather than to describe their thoughts and feelings, but I never fully understood how I could implement this as a technique in my writing. So when I heard about Show & Tell in a Nutshell: Demonstrated Transitions from Telling to Showing, I eagerly downloaded the eBook, hoping that it would help me to understand the concept once and for all.

Author Jessica Bell introduces the book by sharing her own story about her understanding of the phrase ‘show, don’t tell’ and explaining her motivation for writing the book-to provide writers with ‘real examples that demonstrate the transition from telling to showing’. What follows is exactly that-a concise handbook that not only tells the writer what they are doing wrong, but shows them exactly how to put it right (how very meta!).

Bell presents sixteen scenes as examples, each with a list of attributes (feelings, emotions, situations etc.) that she aims to show. She suggests each scene should be read four times-first to grasp the feel of it, second to identify the words and phrases that have been reworked, third to recognise how they have been changed, and fourth to brainstorm your own ways of depicting the same attributes. This simple methodology is very easy to follow, and the scenes cover a range of different tenses and points of view.

For each scene, she provides an example that is purely description and all ‘telling’, then she rewrites the same scene in a much more effective and engaging style, focusing on ‘showing’. This structure allows you to analyse the two different styles side-by-side, comparing and contrasting the techniques used and their effectiveness. You can clearly see the difference between the two examples. I was blown away by Bell’s talent for bringing scenes and characters to life. She uses realistic dialogue and concise descriptions of all five senses to create movement and evoke emotion. Dull, lack-lustre lists of thoughts and actions are transformed into inspiring, cinematic scenes that seem to play out in your mind’s eye.

But how does this help writers to improve their own craft? After reading the examples, Bell encourages her readers to put what they have learned into practice by rewriting some scenes for themselves, in their own style. The print edition contains blank space for writing notes and ideas, and she encourages those with an eBook version to use highlighting tools to fully engage with the guide. She also provides an email address for readers to ask for more advice, writing prompts or for clarification of anything in the book.

Overall, this handbook couldn’t be more helpful. It’s both easy to understand and to implement in your own work. My only disappointment was that the book wasn’t longer, but it does provide sufficient examples to learn from. I would recommend it to beginner writers, or anyone going through the process of editing drafts, and I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series: Adverbs & Clichés in a Nutshell: Demonstrated Subversions of Adverbs & Clichés into Gourmet Imagery.
...more

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Dec 05, 2012 Margo Dill rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

What do writers like to get in their holiday stockings? How about helpful writing books, such as Show and Tell in a Nutshell: Demonstrated Transitions from Telling to Showing? How many of us have had our manuscripts critiqued and have also heard during that critique, "You are telling too much. You need to show"? So, how does Jessica Bell's book help writers learn to show and not tell in just a little over one hundred pages?

Jessica's entire idea is to create a handbook for writers that shows how What do writers like to get in their holiday stockings? How about helpful writing books, such as Show and Tell in a Nutshell: Demonstrated Transitions from Telling to Showing? How many of us have had our manuscripts critiqued and have also heard during that critique, "You are telling too much. You need to show"? So, how does Jessica Bell's book help writers learn to show and not tell in just a little over one hundred pages?

Jessica's entire idea is to create a handbook for writers that shows how to show and not tell, and she succeeds by presenting sixteen scenes to read and learn from. In her introduction, she suggests that you read each scene four times and focus on different parts of it each time. After reading it through once, then the second time, writers should "identify the telling words/phrases." By the last time a scene is read, a writer will be brainstorming their own ways to "fix" the scene. (In the print version of the book, Jessica provides blank pages to take notes and try your own wording of the scenes.)

So, what does a scene entail? First, readers will encounter a list of attributes that a writer is trying to portray in a scene. For example, in the first scene, the list is: "amazing view, awe, feel hot, relief, feel tired." The next page has a paragraph, full of telling.

Sandy stood at the foot of the Egyptian Pyramids. Though she was hot, tired and sore, she was awestruck by the amazing view and felt a sense of relief. Finally, she’d made it.

Obviously, there's a lot of telling in that above example. Can you pick that out? The next page in the book, which I won't share with you here, provides Jessica's version of the same paragraph, but with showing details, instead of telling. Then there's a page for notes.

What I like about this book is that the author tells you what she wants to portray in each paragraph with a list, provides a simple telling example, and then she gives a good example of showing instead of telling. She is also encouraging you to do the same--in your own style. How could you rewrite the above paragraph to show Sandy was hot without telling the reader she's hot? Would you do it the same way as Jessica? Can you figure out more than one way to do it?

Each of the sixteen scenes is set up like this. There's no long explanations on why the author chose to do what she did. This is a short, concise book, but it gets the point across. In the end, the author provides three writing exercises and her e-mail address, where she invites readers to contact her if they have questions or need more writing prompts.

...more

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Nov 13, 2012 Angela Mackintosh rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

“Show, don’t tell.”

If you’re a writer, you’ve probably heard that dreaded phrase at least once. I remember hearing it quite often when I first started writing fiction, but no matter how many times someone tried to explain it to me, I just didn’t completely get it. Like many women writers, I started writing at a young age in my diary--and diaries are all telling--so I became accustomed to writing confessionals about my feelings. Well, that doesn’t make for compelling fiction!

What I really neede ...more

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Nov 10, 2012 Rebekah Dedmon rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Writers of every kind.

Recommended to Rebekah by: A Friend.

SHOW & TELL IN A NUTSHELL: Demonstrated Transitions from Telling to Showing by Jessica Bell is brilliant. It is a pocket-guide reference for writers that need help with the skill of showing instead of telling in their works.

Personally, I feel as though every aspiring author has been told at one point in time, “To show and not tell.” I know that for me, at first I could not grasp that concept and would become easily frustrated with it. This quick reference guide shows you how to transition a ...more

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Jan 07, 2013 Stephen Tremp rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I read Jessica Bell's Show & Tell in a Nutshell: Demonstrated Transitions from Telling to Showing over the course of weekend. And the timing couldn't be better as I'm finishing the draft for my current WIP, the third book of a trilogy.

I've noticed in my first two books there were a number of scenes that could have been better communicated by showing rather than telling. One of my main goals this time is to write scenes that show rather than tell. After reading Show & Tell in a Nutshell, ...more

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Jul 19, 2013 Lee Dunning rated it did not like it · review of another edition

It was concise, so yes, I guess it is aptly named. Don't let the 102 pages fool you, none of the pages has more than a paragraph on it, and the others are a page with words pertinent to the scene (five words at the most), a page with a "tell" version of a scene (only 2-5 sentences) and then a page with the "show" version of the scene (the paragraph). The last chapter (if you can call it that) is a collection of words that you are then supposed to work into your own "showing" scene.

Based on the r ...more

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Nov 05, 2012 Amie McCracken rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012

Show and Tell in a Nutshell by Jessica Bell is a writing craft book that is practical. Jessica shows the reader how to show in a very practical and dynamic way. She gives examples of telling and then switches them right around to showing. She also provides exercises and blank sheets of paper for the reader to try it all out on their own.

I could not believe the amount of scenes Jessica managed to create with such flair and intensity. The tone of each was so very different. I have never seen such ...more

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Apr 15, 2013 Melissa Maygrove rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction-craft-book

This is an easy-to-understand book on fiction writing, which focuses on the skill of 'showing versus telling.' The author gives several examples of passages written in bland telling form followed by the same scene once showing techniques have been applied.

Skill level: Is this for you?
While I think most writers could learn something from this book and I strongly encourage new writers to read it, it's my opinion that the lessons are geared for beginning fiction writers. I'd been writing and study ...more

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Mar 14, 2013 Gregory Lamb rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Community of fiction writers

Recommended to Gregory by: Kindle Review

I didn't hunt this book down. It was recommended to me, so I snatched it up immediately after reading the blurb. When I read Bell's introduction it was like looking in a mirror. I've been critiqued on occasion for having produced too much telling and not enough showing in my fictional works.

I nearly gave up the search for a concise and practical set of tools like the ones Bell offers in her quick to read, easy to use manual. I now have a new found confidence to get back to working on revising on ...more

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Nov 28, 2012 Laurel Garver rated it really liked it · review of another edition

A quick read with vibrant examples of how a passage can be transformed from "telling" readers about emotions to showing them. If underwriting and bland characterization are your Achilles heel, this little pocket guide is sure to be useful.

I have to admit I was expecting a bit more "how to" alongside the examples. Bell takes an intuitive rather than analytic approach, so it will resonate with some learning styles more than others.

What I'd love to see is a companion book for us who struggle with ...more

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Dec 30, 2015 Tracey Pedersen rated it really liked it

Good information and learning to show, not tell is a fabulous skill for a writer. This was a very short book and I thought there could have been a lot more information included. I will say that in the examples between telling and then showing felt like the telling part was just a summary rather than a written piece. Then the showing was the full part with dialogue, etc. I would have liked two actual examples to compare. Worth adding this to your writing knowledge.

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Apr 13, 2015 Addicted to Books rated it liked it

Shelves: own-kindle, writing

3 stars

I found this book to be useful when I first started writing. I rarely give short books 3 stars but this one deserves it. She waters it down and gives examples.

I would challenge you one step further. Rewrite the the telling scenes into your own version of showing.

or look through some books you know had a lot of telling and see as a whole how it failed thewhole book or certain parts

Indie writers , please give this book a go.

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May 03, 2014 Joana Arteaga rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Show & Tell in a Nutshell is a very short book and I finished reading it in a day. It has 16 different scenes explaining how to show the reader what you want them to feel instead of just telling them. I really enjoyed all the examples of how showing instead of telling makes a book more interesting. This is a great book to help you become a better writer.

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Jul 01, 2013 Susan Swiderski rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Writers are frequently instructed to "show, not tell", but before we can follow that advise, we first have to understand it. Bell's brilliant nuts-and-bolts examples provide just what every writer needs to not only understand the concept, but to implement it. Know why? She doesn't just tell us about this concept... she shows us. Kinda fitting, dontcha think?

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Dec 10, 2012 Kristine rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Fabulous book for those of us still learning the craft of writing. Bell offers sixteen examples of scenes written by telling and then by showing and then challenges you as a writer/reader to do the same exercise for yourself. For people who learn from examples/modeling best (like me), this is a wonderful way of learning. Definitely worth the read.

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Mar 31, 2013 Medeia Sharif rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

To make action scenes and characters come alive, you show instead of tell. With sixteen examples of show versus tell and writing exercises at the end, SHOW & TELL IN A NUTSHELL is a fantastic resource for writers. If someone has had agents, editors, critique partners, and so on point out areas of telling—which is a weakness—this book will help strengthen his or her writing.

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Jul 12, 2014 Clara rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Great for writers novice or multi published. this little book gives examples of showing rather than telling and is a great review for those multipublished authors and great for those beginning their writer career.

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Mar 14, 2013 Leseugla rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Excellent for someone like me who has never really been taught writing. It gave me some great ideas for taking my own manuscript to the next level. And not only that, I am actually looking forward to it!

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Oct 15, 2015 Emily Moore rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Great examples and exercises

I love how the author gives great examples to help you see the difference. The writing exercises helped me get my creative juices flowing. This would be great for beginner writers as well. Worth the money.

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Feb 18, 2013 G. Edward rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Outstanding! Highly recommend to new writers.

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Dec 26, 2012 Meryl rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: writing-books

Good examples if you are completely ignorant of the difference between showing and telling. Very short, but it works on examples rather than trying to quantify what showing and telling are.

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May 18, 2016 Jen Tucker rated it it was amazing

A wonderful, quick read containing great examples of show vs. tell.

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About Jessica Bell

Jessica Bell

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If Jessica Bell could choose only one creative mentor, she'd give the role to Euterpe, the Greek muse of music and lyrics. This is not only because she currently resides in Athens, Greece, but because of her life as a 30-something Australian-native contemporary fiction author, award-winning poet and singer/songwriter/guitarist, whose literary inspiration often stems from songs she's written.

Being If Jessica Bell could choose only one creative mentor, she'd give the role to Euterpe, the Greek muse of music and lyrics. This is not only because she currently resides in Athens, Greece, but because of her life as a 30-something Australian-native contemporary fiction author, award-winning poet and singer/songwriter/guitarist, whose literary inspiration often stems from songs she's written.

Being the daughter of a semi-famous rock 'n' roll duo from Melbourne, she grew up surrounded by song. For a while it seemed logical to travel the musician's path, especially when her first band, spAnk, hit it off in the Melbourne indie music scene back in the late 90s. Although she spent her years writing and recording dozens of songs she decided she also had a love for the written word, and began to pursue a career as a writer.

She started as a poet, drawing from her musical background and etching her thoughts and feelings into verse. Those stanzas soon turned into sentences and paragraphs, and eventually into published books. Her literary voice is said to overflow with "lyrical descriptions, unique metaphors, tight dialogue, and an abundance of sensory detail." She has also been told she has the ability to take a seemingly ordinary three-chord type story and turn it into a main stage event.

In addition to her novels, her poetry collections (including FABRIC, which was nominated for the Goodreads Choice Awards in 2012), and her pocket writing guides (WRITING IN A NUTSHELL SERIES), she has published a variety of works in online and print literary journals and anthologies, including Australia's Cordite Review, and the anthologies 100 STORIES FOR QUEENSLAND and SHADOWS AT THE STAGE DOOR, both released through Australia's, eMergent Publishing.

Additionally, she is the Publishing Editor of Vine Leaves Literary Journal, the Coordinator of the Writing Day Workshops which take place throughout the United States, and makes a living as an editor/writer for English Language Teaching publishers worldwide, such as Pearson Education, HarperCollins, Macmillan Education, Education First and Cengage Learning. ...more

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“No matter how entertaining, diverse, concise, or detailed, a writing craft book is, it’s not going to work magic on you, it’s not going to suddenly make you a brilliant writer simply by reading it. You need to use what you read and learn in your own writing. Because that’s when you have those AHA moments. That's when it really sticks.” — 1 likes

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