Show, Don't Tell: How to write vivid descriptions, handle backstory, and describe your characters’ emotions

by Sandra Gerth

Show, don’t tell is probably the single most-important piece of advice given to writers. But many writers struggle to understand this powerful principle or have difficulty applying it to their own work. Even experienced authors sometimes don’t grasp the finer nuances of showing and telling.

In this book, Sandra Gerth draws on her experience as an editor and a best-selling author to show you how to show and tell you when to tell.

Each chapter includes concrete examples and exercises that will hone your writing skills.

Whether you’re a novice writer working on your first story or an established author who has already learned the basics of showing and telling, this book will help you to:

Grasp the difference between showing and telling.
Understand why showing is such a powerful tool.
Spot telling in your own manuscript.
Fix bland passages and turn them into compelling scenes.
Keep from telling what you have already shown.
Avoid the three danger areas of telling.
Describe your characters and your setting in interesting ways.
Put powerful emotions into your writing.
Incorporate backstory into your novel without resorting to telling.
Recognize telling in dialogue.
Avoid overshowing and swamping your readers with too many details.
Learn when telling is actually a good thing.
Immerse your readers into your story and keep them captivated from beginning to end.

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction, Reference, Crafts, Self Help, How To, Audiobook

112 pages, Paperback

Published February 10, 2018

About the author

Sandra Gerth is a writer and an editor who divides her time between writing her own books and helping other writers revise and polish theirs.

She holds a degree in psychology and worked as a psychologist for eight years before transitioning into a career as a full-time novelist—the best job in the world as far as she’s concerned.

She earned a certificate in editing from the Academy of German Book Trade and is now the senior editor of Ylva Publishing, a small press that publishes women’s fiction.

Under her pen name, Jae, she has published twelve novels and about two dozen short stories. Her books have won numerous awards and have been #1 bestsellers on Amazon on various occasions.

She’s also the author of a series of books for writers

Reviews

[Hamad · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review and other non-spoilery reviews can be found @The Book Prescription

“Telling is like giving readers a secondhand report afterward. Showing lets readers experience the events firsthand, through the five senses of the character.”

🌟 I haven’t heard of this book until I got a message from the beta-reading group moderator. She mentioned that this was a helpful book and that it was available for free on Amazon. I downloaded it because there was nothing to lose and after reading it I can say that there is much to gain!

🌟 The full title of the book is: Show, Don’t Tell: How to write vivid descriptions, handle backstory, and describe your characters’ emotions. And it does exactly that. I am not an expert when it comes to the writing process since I specialized in a totally different subject in University. However, I like books and everything related to them, I even want to write my own book one day.

🌟 I postponed writing my first novella because I want to learn more. I want to bring something good to the world and I think this makes me one step closer to this! I have read other books on the writing process and one book mentioned not using adverbs when writing but never explaining why. After reading this I get it! This was so simple yet so helpful. It can be and should be read by anyone willing to write a story.

🌟 I noticed that I can now differentiate the telling vs showing when I read and that was the whole point of this book so I can easily say that it did an excellent job in what it promised it will do! I may check the authors other books since this one was good.

[Jo Kerr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy to read, with practical exercises to complete as you move through each learning point.

If you’re learning to write and want to understand more about ‘showing not telling’ this is a great book.

I enjoyed it, learned a lot, and will definitely re-read it as I re-write some of my drafted work. Recommended.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a writers you are always told "show, don't tell" ... well this book clearly shows you how to do that. To me showing is a lot harder than telling. After spending a career in the military and in private dental practice, getting to the point and "telling" is what I've been programed to do. No one wants to read a flowery and descriptive patient note entry that puts you in the moment. Patient notes required just the facts and no embellishment. It's been a hard habit to break!

* by the way... this was a kindle book. One thing I've noticed... Is it me or do others find that e-books are harder to read and easier to set down than a paper book? Let me know!

[tappkalina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Should be a must-read.

[Steven McKay]

Useful

Easy to read and understand, I found this book good value for money. It will be especially helpful to those who really struggle with this whole concept but even if you're fairly accomplished at "showing not telling" you'll find useful advice in here.

[Emma Sterner-Radley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clear and helpful! The long reading time was only because I re-read it right away after the first read and went through all the exercises while writing.

[Una Tiers · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is packed with examples to hone your writing skills. Highly recommended.

[Kristin Holt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read and studied many titles about the essential concept, "Show, Don't Tell". I extend my compliments to Sandra Gerth for possibly the strongest, most helpful view at the concept, from every conceivable direction. I was pleasantly surprised to learn elements I'd not previously considered. I can't wait to share this title with a young cousin who's just publishing her first title. I believe this writing craft book will be of help and worthwhile to every new writer and most authors who aren't yet "perfectly seasoned". I've read a few authors' finished work that proves they already know all this... but those authors are few and far between.

Superb!

[Sarah]

There was quite a bit of (in my opinion) unnecessary language. I decide I would rather get a different book on the same subject that didn't have that.

[Asraful Shumon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read it more than a year ago, and now read it again to check if I have forgotten anything. Gotta admit, no blog ever taught me so much as this had--and after reading so many blogs about show don't tell, that’s saying something. This is the best book about show don't tell.

Why? Because it not only say how and when to show, but also when to not. It has an in depth analysis about the rule of thumb, also has a full chapter about why telling is also important.

Man! I remember the days when I used to read blogs after blogs, watch videos one after another, try that on my writing and get frustrated. Because most blogs and channels advise you to just show, show, show and show, none of them explains the downside of too much showing. The way they say it makes you confused, provokes you to come to a false conclusion that whatever chekhov meant by, 'don't tell me the moon is shinning, show me the glint of light on broken glass' is never to use adverbs, cut off all adjectives and never, never to tell a thing.

Wait, what?

Well that sucks! About five years ago, the random blogs and videos made me frustrated as an author. I suppose many authors go through the same cycle of depression for a part of their early carrier. If you are not a writer then you probably wouldn't understand the torturous voices of disembodied figures shouting and insisting to show every fucking time you write a new line. Its just...you will want to take a knife and end your miserable life so chided by figures you could never see, never hurt. If you still have no clue as to what I mean, imagine a voice screaming at you every time you write 'walked'. The malevolent creature orders you to avoid weak verbs like 'walked', insisted on using trudged, tiptoed, strut etc, but dramatically failed to mention not to overuse them. Well...Sometimes, you just simply walk into a room. Period.

I have seen authors screaming in agony as they can't get the hell of this. One of my fellow authors almost went on a mental trauma when he failed to show in every sentence he writes.
And then I suggested him this book, told him not to overdo it and now he is very happy with his career. So to me, sandra gerth has written a life saving element.


So what this book has? In a nutshell, it tells you how to manipulate your five senses, why adverbs and adjectives are a no-no, why you shouldn’t use filter words and weak verbs, how to show through dialogue and at the same time how to avoid AYKB and many many in depth analysis. So if you want a proper understanding about modern story writing technique, this is the best choice for you.

[A.M. Heath · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a phenomenal tool. What I appreciated most is the author's straight forward approach. The information was given in a quick, simple, bite-sized way. Then she followed up immediately with small examples. I've read some books where the examples given were long and tedious, but this wasn't the case here.
As for the information, I found techniques that I already practice as well as some that I haven't considered or understood before. And she did a marvelous job explaining everything. Gerth is certainly very knowledgable on the subject. Because I learn best by example, I loved how she paused at the end of each chapter and encouraged the reader to examine a chapter of their own work before moving on.
The one drawback for me was the language. Being a conservative Christian author, I would have appreciated if the author had considered how her work could be viewed across several genres.
While I can recommend the material, it would have to be with a word of caution.

[Rachel Bea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short and to the point. Gerth explains with clarity, using plenty of examples throughout. I also appreciated the many writing exercises that were included. I only did a couple of the exercises while reading it but I can already see that they are helpful. Glad I picked this book up (today 3/27 it's free on Kindle) because it'll definitely be useful.

[Pankaj Prasad · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Quick Guide for budding Writers

The book has a lot of interesting stories .
Learned a lot.
It can help a lot to the budding Writers.
The best part of the story was the author seemed experienced writer who used bullet points to highlight the key learnings.
You can literally go back to the each chapter and just read the heading.

[Jude Silberfeld-Grimaud · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent! Very useful not only as a writer but as a reader (you'll understand why some of the novels you've read left you feeling on the outside even though the story was good). Looking forward to reading the author's other writers' guides.

[Lydia Willcock · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm sorry this books turned out like it did, because the little I read was very helpful. But in the examples there were several swear words, and I had to stop it almost immediately.

[Bitten Andreasen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short, to the point and easy understandable book about the “show don’t tell” rule of writing. Well actually one of the things I like about this book is that it also explains that the rule should actually be “show and tell”. As the book says the trick is to get the right balance in your writing. Another thing I like about this book is the many examples, where we see the same text written both as tell and show, which makes it very easy to understand the difference and see when to use which.

[Mermarie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This author flip-flops and contradicts her own ideas; even down to the very book title. By the time she actually admits that showing AND telling are ideal, she'd beaten that concept to death for me to find it forgiving. I dunno, it was a big miss for me. Although, I did think the examples could be helpful in-order TO balance showing AND telling; allowing yourself a bit of license & working to place both showing/telling in spatterings throughout your craft.

[Lola · Rating 4 out of 5]

Show, Don't Tell is one of those writerly advice pieces you seem to hear everywhere, but rarely you hear what that exactly means. This book is a short and to point non-fiction book that explains exactly what show, don't tell means.

I really liked this book. It's informative and to the point, but also has plenty of examples to illustrate what the author means. I thought the examples were really handy to get what she was taking about and see how showing could transform a simple scene.

While the book is about showing instead of telling, the author also states that actually you have to show and tell, just know where to do which. I liked that message as I definitely think that telling has it's place as well.

At the end of most chapters there also are some exercises to incorporate what you learn in that chapter. I think this was a nice way to recap the chapters and for authors to incorporate the knowledge.

To summarize: This is a great read that explains the advice show, don't tell. I enjoyed reading this book and found it informative in the way the author explained how to show instead of tell. And also more information about when to show and tell and how to spot problematic scenes and more. There were plenty of informative examples and also some handy exercises at the end of most chapters. I would definitely recommend this one if you want to know more about showing and telling and I plan on picking up more of this author's books.

[Jeff Willis · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first part of this book was really good. The definitions of "show" and "tell" and the analysis of why it's important to show rather than tell, the red flags for how to figure out when you're "telling," and the early information was very clear, very concise, and quite helpful.

The second part of this book was... less helpful. There are all kinds of "rules" and guidelines that simply have no basis in fact. Things like "Don't use flashback scenes in the first third of your novel" and "most literary agents and many readers hate prologues" and "if you use dialogue tags other than 'said,' you're telling" are anecdotal assertions and specific to each individual at best, but they're presented as if they're commonly understood industry standards that should be followed.

Overall, I would recommend this book for the overall approach to explaining "show versus tell." The definition, analysis, and similar big picture information is spot-on and can be really effective for anyone looking to better understand this popular writing concept. However, I would read the strategy part of this book with a heavy dose of skepticism and the understanding that it is - at best - general guidelines to consider rather than hard and fast rules that must be adhered to.

[David Blankenship · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very clear and helpful!

I’m so glad I read through this. This book gets into countless examples of showing in different categories. There are also common mistakes. I also appreciated the common misinterpretations of what it means, like showing isn’t always dialogue, and there are appropriate situations for telling.
I think that show vs. tell has become so much of a pop culture theme in the writing community that the value gets lost. This book does a great job at breaking it all down very clearly.
I very much recommend this book and I’ll bet the others in the series are just as great.

[Michelle Romano · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Must Read for New Authors

This is a must read book for new authors. First, it’s short, so it’s a quick read full of helpful tips. It highlights ways to show and tell feelings, actions and scenes, and offers lots of tips like which words to use, how to create tension at the start and end of chapters, avoid repetition, write backstories, and other topics with the goal of capturing the attention of the reader! At the end of each chapter are exercises to practice rephrasing, and at the end of the book, the author lists telling examples, inviting authors to turn them into showing sentences. Highly recommend!

[Lynelle Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Personally, I found this book helpful. It cleared the misunderstandings I had about show rather than tell with much practical advice I will turn to until I understand it completely. The writing exercises are relevant and gave me the freedom and know-how; enlarging my knowledge in this key aspect of writing.

[James Walter Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

While Janice Hardy's book was good, Sandra Gerth's is even better! Sandra Gerth presents a clear and easy-to-digest analysis of showing versus telling, but the major strength of her book is the exercises. Learning something is one thing, applying it puts into practice that knowledge. Applying the exercises to your writing, or doing the exercises as they stand, will improve your writing by leaps and bounds.

[Karen Olson · Rating 5 out of 5]

very helpful!

This was a great book to help me develop my skill with ‘show don’t tell’. As I went through my story (again), I referred to her book, then used the ‘Find’ tool to search my document. I was appalled to find many areas of weakness. I highly recommend this helpful guide.

[Maida · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly helpful

Great format and organization of the topics covered. The examples and exercises are really helpful. I’ll constantly reread to remind me of the best ways to show and tell.

[Joanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you are a writer, this book will offer a way to escape telling the reader what to think and how to show the scene, who the characters are and why they act the way they do, etc. After reading the book you will have no doubt about how to accomplish showing instead of telling in every situation.

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ya no son solo las pautas que te propone que sigas en tus propios escritos, sino los ejercicios que incluye y la forma en la que está explicado y ejemplificado todo.

Por otro lado decir que ha sido un regalo increíble :')

[Nathan Perkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short, practical and I'll read and use the tool within it several times.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty basic, but good examples. I appreciated the way she explained that the "ditch the adverbs" advice is really saying "show don't tell."

[Pauline · Rating 5 out of 5]

An exceptional book with a lot of examples to make prose move faster. Highly recommended.