I received criticism for telling and not showing in one of my recent stories. I did ask a question on here about it a couple of months ago and received some great and useful replies from the community.
I am now in the process of editing my story but now I feel as though I am showing to much? Is it possible to show to much in a story? I don't really know where to draw the line. There is a part in my story where my character sees the new home she is living in and so I have gone on to describe what the cottage looks like, smells like etc. Which I think is ok but another example would be when my characters are sitting down at a kitchen table and having a discussion, do I need to describe the table? The kitchen? etc..
I just think that it sounds silly if it is described to much. Help please?
Yup. John's got a good point.
A good tip to guide 'showing': Why? Why is this relevant, what does it demonstrate, how does it effect/juxtapose/tie in to them or metaphor, expound necessarily on world building/atmosphere?
Purpose.
It's a fault I most assuredly have had, that most do. You also have to find a balance in your style that paint-by-numbers style writing guides simply cannot provide you.
A good guide to Show not Tell can be found on the first page of any quality novel.
The early sentences and paragraphs will be crammed with information.
Alain : (French Philosopher) An abstract style is always bad. Your sentences should be full of stones, metals, chairs, tables, animals, men and women.
Keep descriptions as short as possible in the narrative. If there is need for a lengthy description of a setting break it up. Try to weave lines of descriptions into the dialogue and streams of thought.
Dialogue is an action and 'Shows' a lot about characters. I would aim for at least 50% dialogue in your novel.
Other ways to show:
Use the characters sensory perceptions of: touch, taste, smell, sight and sound to describe their surroundings or each other. (Try not to use more than three at a time)
Use characters streams-of-thought to let people know their inner world; perhaps reveal things that would not be revealed in any other way.
I hope that helps.
Good luck.
Thank you, that is useful information. I forget how hard it is to show rather than tell, hopefully I will get there in the end!