This week, I’m talking a bit about showing versus telling.
There will be more about this in our podcast, DOGS ARE SMARTER THAN PEOPLE.
As I say there, a lot of writers get the note that they need to show more and tell less and then they are stuck thinking a lot of swear words and end up screaming into their pillow, “HOW DO I EVEN DO THAT?”
Showing is what it sounds like. You are showing what’s happening in the scene or with the character.
Telling is also what it sounds like. You are blunt and direct and are just stating things. Sometimes you’re stating and summarizing.
Showing Example:
Carrie was hungry.
Telling Example:
Her stomach grumbled as Carrie opened the refrigerator. Nothing. Just shelves of sourdough starter and orange-vanilla soda water and left-over crumbs of pizza crust. Pressing her face against the dirty shelf, she tried to lap them up with her tongue. The world wobbled.
“Food,” she whispered. “Please, just a little food.”
Those seem like two totally different stories, right? But they are both just about me being hungry.
When you tell people, they are left filling in the gaps. If you heard, “Carrie was hungry,” I bet you didn’t fill in those gaps quite the way I just did.
As writers, showing allows us more control over what we’re trying to communicate to the reader. Pretty cool, right?
Three Quick Tips to Try to Show Instead of Tell
Use dialogue.
We learn a lot about people by how they talk to other people. Do they use big words? Little words? Dramatic words? Do they just grunt?
“I am terribly disappointed in your behavior.”
“You suck. I can’t believe you freaking did that.”
“Wow. Buttface.”
Those are all about the same thing, but three very different responses, right? Those responses tell us about the characters.
Describe the action rather than state the action.
Telling:
She loved Spring. It gave her joy.
Showing:
She spiraled around, arms out in the air as she waited for the light to change. The moment it did, she started across.
“You’re skipping,” the lady next to her said.
She smiled back at her, weaving around the school children crossing against them. A dog wagged his tail, sniffing some daffodils in the medium. “It’s Spring. Spring is the best.”
Use the setting and make your character actually interact with the setting.
Telling:
I stepped on the porch. It was hot.
Showing:
The rotting wooden boards of the porch popped under my weight as I sniffed my pits. Before I knocked on the red door with its peeling paint and bright orange STAY OUT sign, I pulled at my t-shirt fabric. The humidity made it cling.
There you go! Like I said, I’ll be talking about this in this week’s podcast, but also in my Wednesday post. Just click on the tab for SHOWDON’T TELL to see all the posts about this topic.
Hm. That seemed a little telling, didn’t it? 🙂
