Show don't Tell?

This is for Joanna and anyone else who is unclear about Show don’t Tell.

I will do my best as a would-be author. I’m sure the published authors who post on these forums can fill in the gaps.

Show don't Tell grounds a novel in reality. It brings the scenes and actions to life, through the minds, speech and actions of individual characters. It’s especially effective when an individual uses his or her sensory perceptions to explain their surroundings and what they are physically experiencing.

It can be tricky when to Show not Tell, because Tell can be used to good effect as well. But most bits of information are better shown than told. This can be done in various ways.

1) A dramatic scene is Show don’t Tell. How you define your characters by their actions. What did your characters see, hear, smell, taste or feel.

2) Dialogue is Show don’t Tell. How your characters speak. How they say things about each other. An effective trick is to have your character reveal information to the reader by talking to another character. This can also serve to advance the plot or add to the tension. But it’s essential the dialogue sounds natural, and then for the reader to use his or her intelligence to fill in the gaps and work out what is likely to happen.

3) Streams-of-thought is Show don’t Tell. How your character’s streams of thought let people know their inner world, perhaps reveal things that would not be revealed in any other way.

4) Descriptions of the weather or landscapes. It’s better to describe the landscape and weather through a characters sensory perception or sharp prose. You don’t want your prose to sound lifeless, like my corny example a) below. Compare example a) with my example b).

a) Example of Tell. ‘It was a dark and stormy night in the village. The wind blasted the cottages. The villagers feared for their crops.’

b) Example of Show. ‘Lightning exploded fracturing the doom-laden darkness which enshrouded the village. Thatched roofs shook and shutters rattled in the howling wind. The slanting deluge turned the hot earth into an oozing quagmire. Between the booms of tropical thunder, wind and rain lashed at the ripe fields of corn flattening the lifeblood of the village.’

c) Example B could also be Show through the sensory perceptions of a character caught in the storm, or witnessing it through a window. For example, a character lost in the storm thought, ‘Oh Lord could we please have more light and a bit less noise.’

I hope that helps.