Show versus Tell, examples
Many of you have seen the “Show, don’t tell” rule in writing articles and books. Basically, you want to “show” the reader the character’s emotions, not “tell” the reader the emotions the character is feeling. “Telling” tends to be distant point of view , which distances the reader from the character’s emotions. “Showing” involves your reader in what’s going on. It’s active and also concrete or tangible. The descriptions are usually more vivid and evoke emotion in the reader. Rather than telling information, show it through the character’s emotional reactions to something that happens in real time. Telling versus showing is a common mistake for writers because, at heart, we’re all storytellers, and that’s how storytellers “tell” a story. However, for writing fiction, you’d rather “show” the reader the action and make the reader an active participant in the events playing out. Put it this way: Like the audience of a play, the reader sees the characters acting and moving about on