Why you should Show rather than Tell - and how to do it.

[Rod]

Why you should Show rather than Tell - and how to do it.
By Rod Raglin
SEPT. 2020

As a writer, your goal is to provoke a reaction in your readers, to make them feel the emotions your character is feeling. The difference between show and tell is that, show invokes on the reader a mental image of the scene/emotion, while tell is a statement of an action/emotion.

Show
Show is a tool used to pull the reader to a scene. By using it, you’re creating a connection between the reader and your scene/character. This happens because you’re making the reader interpret what’s happening, instead of telling him what he should understand or feel.
Showing concrete and vivid details will make the reader create his own conclusions — that will be the same as yours, only he’s going to interpret them by himself.
Show keeps the reader actively involved in the story. On the other hand, tell will keep him passive on the plot.

Tell
When you tell, you’re stealing to the reader the opportunity of discovering, by himself, the world you’ve created, to add something personal to the scene — for him to get involved.
You won’t allow him to use his imagination, his experiences and, even, his personality, to make his conclusions. You’re imposing yours. You’ve kept your reader outside the story when what you want is the opposite.

How to recognize the “Telling” mode
Any piece of prose written in the “telling” mode:
- Is factual
- Is an efficient way to communicate data.
- Prefers to avoid detail broad overarching messages. (“It was cold.”)
- Is not human-centred, and as a result does not, in general, stir the heart.

How to recognize the “Showing” mode
Any piece of prose written in the “showing” mode:
- Is human-centred (usually, though sometimes only by implication).
- Is a richer, more expansive way to communicate.
- Is not efficient – quite the reverse.
- Use details and specifics
- Tends to place the human subject right at the centre of things, and as a consequence can often stir the heart.

TIPS FOR SHOWING RATHER THAN TELLING

Write engaging sensory description. Use the character’s five senses
Take the reader to the scene through the character’s five senses. Make a list of what the character sees, listen, feels, touch or taste. Then, rewrite the scene using strong verbs.

Use strong verbs
Strong verbs are often irregular ones - a verb in which the past tense is not formed by adding the usual -ed ending. Examples of irregular verbs are sing (past tense sang); feel (felt); and go (went). They are dynamic and, often, have a connotation of movement, they create a vivid image in the reader’s mind.
For instance, the verbs love, hate, believe, belong, live, are static verbs. Unlike the strong verbs: walk, say, sell or think, that implicate an action from the subject.
When working to show instead of tell, avoid common telling verbs such as heard, saw, thought, smelled, or wondered. These verbs are, quite literally, tells or marks of authorship, pulling readers out of the character’s experience.

Avoid adverbs
Adverbs sap the strength from your writing and clutter it unnecessarily. Frequently, they state the obvious, for example, scream loudly, or, are redundant as in stealthily creep.

Be specific
The more specific you are in the descriptions, the easier show will be. Being specific, you’ll fill the blank spaces left by your tell, and you’ll create a dynamic scene. Don’t spare in the wording; instead, use descriptions to show.
There’s no need for you to apply this rule in every paragraph. Besides the fact you don’t want an exhaustive description, the specificity will increase the wording — find a balance.

Use dialogue
Dialogue is the easiest way of showing. Dialogue allows readers to explore the scene as if they were there. It can also help with characterization, providing emotion, and accentuating mood. Dialogue is action in real-time, life occurring in that exact moment.

Focus on actions and reactions
Don’t tell the traits of the personality of your characters: show them through their actions. Allow the reader to see how the character acts and reacts to the events in the plot. That will reveal his personality.
Focus on body language and facial expressions: they are part of how we communicate. When we talk we react, physically, and so should your characters. Describe the character’s emotions through their body language.

Personify emotion. Express emotion as action. But be on guard for emotional qualifiers.
Words like "amazement," "happily," and "sadly" are empty words. Allow your characters to convey their emotional states through action and dialogue. That being said, writers should also avoid clichéd gestures for emotion (e.g., biting fingernails to convey anxiety).

When it’s better to “tell”
Telling is often a more concise mode of communication, and that brevity comes in handy in many cases, such as:
- When showing the passage of time
- When relaying simple backstory or exposition
- When capturing the narrative voice of some characters
- When expressing a simple statement
- When crafting most dialogue
- When transitioning between settings
- When balancing lengthy “showing” descriptions
- When highlighting an important thought or action