Introduction
Now all of you would have heard the expression ‘show, don’t tell’ somewhere on YWS. I remember when I first got told it I wondered what on earth it meant and I wondered if they wanted me to show them a diagram of what was happening. But no, I later found out that ‘showing’ just means writing vivid, dynamic and great descriptions that enable the reader to see and imagine the description with a variety of senses as well.
We all want our readers to be absorbed in our writing and to feel a part of the action and this can’t be achieved through telling. ‘Telling’ is just a recital of the action which does not speak to the imagination of the reader. It lets the reader know what’s happening but without letting them step into the action and experience what’s happening themselves. However showing encourages the reader into the midst of the action, although this can depend on whether you’re writing in first or third person and how much about your characters you are willing to let your reader know.
There are two ways in which ‘showing’ can be used: through describing how something looks (e.g. scenery or a character’s appearance) and through describing a character’s emotions. I always think that showing, when used correctly, can be an extremely powerful thing whilst used to describe a character’s emotions as it puts the reader onto a more intimate level with the character so they are able to empathise with them and almost feel their emotions. Now that can be a very powerful thing.
In the Showing vs. Telling lessons I shall go through the two different types of ‘showing’ and also we will look at how we can tell whether it’s best to tell or show in certain situations.
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