Show, Don't Tell - But How?

When you ask an author for their best advice on writing you are most likely going to hear one of three responses:

Write Every Day 

Don't Give Up 

Show, Don't Tell 

Sure, writing every day makes sense to keep in good practice and not giving up is just common sense, but why do they always throw out the phrase show, don't tell? 

It's as if it's ingrained to be an author's mantra from the moment they pick up their pens. 

When I first heard this advice I had no idea what it meant, and I could not even begin to be able to think about how to use it in practice.

After listening to lectures and compiling my own research I have the answers to pass on to you. 

The bottom line? Don't tell your readers something when you can be showing them instead. 

Sensory Details 

The easiest way to incorporate more showing rather than telling in your writing is to engage the senses and describe what your character sees, hears, smells, tastes, and feels. 

If the room they walk into is cold you can give that feeling to your readers in a way that isn't just coming out and saying, "The room was cold." They can run their hands up their arms to warm themselves, they can see their breath floating in front of them. 

Emotions Through Actions 

The words, mad, sad, angry, heartbroken, and frustrated, are all ways you tell your reader what your character is feeling.

This is where most of your showing should be coming into play. Show anger, fist clenched, jaw set hard. Show sadness, slowed movements, and soft speech. Show heartbreak, tearstains, and tiredness.

Any emotion you are giving to the characters you have felt at one point in your life. 

Give your experiences to your characters, and what your body's response to those emotions was. 

Cut The Explanation 

If you're going to have a character be a character - they need to show it on their own. It doesn't need to be stated by someone else. 

For example, if your main character is homeless they shouldn't be saying to themselves or any other character, "It sucks to be homeless." Have them show the actions of being homeless.

Practice  

It won't be easy at first to transcribe your thoughts at first in a way to portray showing when telling is just how some of our brains work. 

 Try to keep it in mind when you write, but it's nothing to worry too much about as it's a simple thing to fix in the editing stage. 

Best of luck. 

B -

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This story was originally posted on Medium.

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