Showing vs. Telling - The Basics

FICTION PHARMACY

DX = Toxic Telling

Showing vs. Telling - The Basics

What is the difference between showing and telling? And why is it so important for fiction writers to show instead of tell?

Telling is flat - you narrate to your readers what your characters are doing, saying, thinking,  and where they are doing it. 

Showing is vivid - It puts your readers into the story with your characters so they see what the characters see and feel what they feel. It makes the readers feel like they are in the story, living it out right along with your characters.

What's the difference?

TELLING:

Sally went to the grocery store and bought some macaroni and cheese and a bunch of ramen noodles because that was all she could afford now that inflation was soaring.

SHOWING:

Sally grabbed a bag  of macaroni noodles and dropped it onto the selection of ramen already in her cart. With a sigh, she pushed past the packaged pasta meals, even as an image of seafood linguine popped into her head. She jerked the cart around the corner and headed for the hamburger. No shrimp or scallops this time...not with the way all the prices had gone up in the last few months. 

It makes a big difference, doesn't it?

Telling gives the readers the facts about what the character did and thought. There is no emotion, just information.

Showing puts the readers in the character's head. It sets the mood with action and vivid words that paint a picture in the mind's eye. Vivid words show the character's frustration ("dropped" instead of "set" or "placed" and "jerked" instead of "pushed" or "wheeled"), and the information about inflation is shown as a part of her thoughts. Notice that the fact that she's in a grocery store isn't even mentioned. It's not necessary, because the readers can see from her actions where she is.

Now it's your turn.

Take a look at your manuscript. Which does it resemble more, showing or telling? Do you narrate or create pictures? Is it a set of facts about what the characters are doing? Or does it show their feelings with actions and paint a vivid picture of what they are doing?

Find a bit of telling in your story and try adding some action with vivid words that let the readers know what your character is doing and feeling without the need to tell them.