Show vs. Tell: What It Really Means

“Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.” — Anton Chekhov

We’ve all heard it: Show, don’t tell. Writers are bombarded with this advice so often that it starts to sound like gospel. But let’s be honest — sometimes it feels vague, overly prescriptive, and downright confusing. What does it actually mean? Are you telling when you write, “She was sad”? Should you never tell anything, ever?

Let’s break it down and talk about how to actually master the art of showing — and when telling is perfectly okay (because yes, it is).

👀 What Does “Show” Mean?

To “show” means to evoke. It’s about letting your readers experience the story with their senses, emotions, and imagination, rather than simply giving them the facts.

Instead of saying:

• She was angry.

You might say:

• Her fists clenched at her sides. She didn’t blink. The silence between them crackled like a live wire.

You’re pulling the reader into the moment. You’re creating mood, emotion, and stakes through action, dialogue, description, and implication.

Showing invites the reader to draw their own conclusions, which makes the emotional impact deeper and more lasting.

📣 What Does “Tell” Mean?

Telling is summarising. It’s stating facts, feelings, or backstory outright. It’s efficient — and sometimes, that’s exactly what you need.

Examples of telling:

• He was the most powerful mage in the realm.
• They had been friends since childhood.

This can be useful when you need to move the story along, deliver exposition, or set the tone quickly.

The key is knowing when telling serves your story — and when it flattens it.

🧠 When to Show vs. When to Tell

Here’s the secret: You need both. Good writing is a blend. If you show every single detail, your pacing crawls. If you only tell, your story feels distant.

Show when:

• A moment is emotionally significant
• You want to build tension
• You’re introducing a key character or relationship
• You’re trying to immerse the reader in setting or mood

Tell when:

• You need to move time forward quickly
• The detail isn’t emotionally loaded
• You’re writing transition scenes
• You’re giving necessary context without derailing the scene

• ✨ How to Practice Showing

Want to sharpen your showing skills? Try these:

1. Use sensory details . What does your character see, hear, smell, touch, taste?
2. Anchor emotion in the body. Instead of “She was nervous,” try “Her stomach twisted.”
3. Use strong verbs . “He stormed out” tells us more than “He left angrily.”
4. Let dialogue carry weight . Let characters imply feelings through what they do or don’t say.
5. Trim the filters . Replace “She felt that he was distant” with “He didn’t look up when she entered.”

It’s not about overwriting — it’s about choosing your moments.

✍️ My Take (A Writer Who’s Learned the Hard Way)

I used to show everything. Every sigh, every blink, every twitch got its own paragraph. My pacing? Slower than molasses in January. Eventually, I learned the magic trick: show for impact, tell for structure.

If I want you to feel the moment, I show it. If I want to get us to the next scene without a ten-page detour, I tell.

You don’t have to prove you’re a “real writer” by avoiding telling at all costs. Great storytelling is about control. You decide where to linger and where to move.

“Show, don’t tell” is less about rules and more about rhythm. Learn when to zoom in and when to pan out. Learn when to let the reader feel, and when to simply know.

Use both tools. Trust your voice. And if in doubt? Write the scene both ways — and see which version makes you feel something.

Because in the end, that’s what showing is really about: making the reader feel.