Telling Without Showing

Of all the skills a writer must acquire, learning to show what happens in a story rather than telling what happens, is the most important. Writers who tell their stories never make an emotional connection with the reader.

Readers expect to engage all their senses in order to experience the story. Writers who employ the power of showing are able to engage the reader’s imagination. They transform what is not real—like fiction—into something that feels real.

The difference between telling and showing is what turns so-so writing into powerful writing. Stories that tell are nothing more than a collection of words that hammer facts on the reader’s psyche without ever making an emotional connection. Telling is passive and keeps the reader at a distance. It is also the surest way to bore a reader and rob him or her of enjoyment.

A reader needs to have a reason to invest the 10 or so hours it will take to read your book, and they aren’t going to do that if the story is not compelling and interesting to read.

Showing, on the other hand, is active and engages the imagination—it allows the reader to make an emotional connection with the events in the story and the characters living within the story.

Showing brings thoughts, ideas, and images to life and contributes to making the story captivating and hard to put down.

Readers read to be transported in time and place. They want to participate in what happens on the page and insist on being involved in everything; the characters, the events, and in figuring out what may happen next. Telling robs the reader of that participation.

Telling rather than showing is like plowing a field with a dead horse. The intention is sincere, but the equipment is incapable of accomplishing the task. 

Read the passage below. Note what you are feeling, or note your lack of feeling. Write down what you know about the characters or events in the passage, and whether you enjoyed the passage. If you did not enjoy it, ask yourself why.

After you have recorded your responses, repeat the process with the showing passage. Be sure to note why and how your responses are different.

           Continued in "10 Glaring Mistakes Amateur Writers Make...

           and How to Avoid Them"