SHOW AND TELL

WHAT IS SHOWING vs. TELLING?

SHOWING - in the context of writing, is the practice of laying out scenes, behavior, dialogue, physical expressions, settings and the like to inform the reader of something.

TELLING - in the context of writing, is the practice of giving the reader statements to inform them of something.

SHOWING vs. TELLING for emotions:

To break this down, here are examples:

"She is sad." is a statement informing the reader that the character is sad.

"Tears beaded in her eyes." lays out a physical expression that is most commonly associated with sadness. Adding more physical expressions or dialogue to this lets the writer set just how sad the character is. "Tears beaded in her eyes as she stared at him, fists clenched and teeth gritted in an effort to swallow down her sob." for example, gives us multiple actions that indicate that this character is very upset but trying not to appear so. On the other hand: "Tears beaded in her eyes, and when she closed them, they rolled down her cheeks; she hung her head listlessly, posture wilting." gives us actions that indicate that this character is upset and has resigned herself to her sadness.

For another example:

"John was furious with Mark." is a statement informing the reader that John is furious with Mark. (lmao)

"John marched over to Mark, shoulders tense and hiked up, jaw clenched as he scowled at the man." lays out action and physical expressions that show us that John is angry and might blow up at Mark.

SHOWING vs. TELLING for character work:

As with above, Telling in character work is giving informative statements.Showing in character work, however, often comes in the form of laying out memories, habits, or even settings.

For example, take this piece of character information: "John likes his classmate Evan."

• To tell the audience that John holds feelings for his classmate, the writer may exposit this through a direct statement in narration, or have it be mentioned as a direct statement in dialogue.
• To show the audience, the writer may lay out John's reactions when Evan is around (he may be avoidant, he may immediately try to get near him, he may defend him when someone gossips about him behind his back, he may stutter around him, he may try to brag in front of him to make himself seem impressive, etc), the physical sensations of his body (blushing, heartbeat increasing, butterflies in stomach, sweating, unable to focus, etc), or even his habits (does he wait for Evan by the lockers so they can walk home together and talk? does he buy Evan's favorite soda whenever he uses the vending machine? does he snap photos of things Evan likes and sends it to him? etc).

A writer can also show the audience a facet of the character through their setting. How is their room arranged, what decorations are there, did they pick out the curtains/the colors/the bedsheets/etc? Is it tidy? Is it dirty? A person's behavior can affect their environment---an obsession with a certain fandom, for example, may result in posters or collectibles, the same way a sensitivity to textures may result in a carefully-curated wardrobe.

SHOWING vs. TELLING for settings:

SvT with settings depends on the scope of the setting the writer is trying to convey. Settings can range from a room to a city to a country to an entire world, depending on the genre, worldbuilding, and themes of a story.

For example, if the idea that a writer is trying to communicate is an untidy room, then "The room is dirty." would be a straightforward statement that counts as a 'tell'. Describing the room --- "Old clothes covered the floor, ant-infested wrappers spilled from the waste bin, unwashed plates lay on the table." counts as a 'show'. However, if the idea that the writer is trying to communicate is "This world is a dystopian future of our world", then "The United States collapsed on July 28, 2039." is a statement laying out a step in the world's crumbling, and counts as 'show'. As a general rule: telling = saying the idea that the writer wants to communicate as-is; showing = laying out the process, showing examples, presenting evidence, as if you're arguing for a case.

SHOWING vs. TELLING on a narrative scale:

Telling, on a narrative scale, means exposition and event summarization. Showing, on a narrative scale, means entire scenes. SvT on a narrative scale (meaning, taking into account the entire story) can set the pacing, depth, and reader engagement level of a work.

For example, summarizing entire events---The guests gossiped at the party. Shiela overheard someone say that Kent had been caught cheating on Lisa, and once she got home, she texted the news to everyone at school.---condenses hours of a party, a scene of Shiela overhearing a conversation, and her spreading the gossip, to a few seconds of reading. Writing out portions of the party, the scene where Shiela overhears the conversation, and her spreading the gossip, expands these sentences into scenes that takes minutes to unfurl in readers' imaginations.

When using showing and telling on a narrative level, it is best to find a balance, as too many tells would make a work too fast-paced when some areas may need to be slow, and will sometimes take away impact. Too many shows would make a work too slow and sometimes bog down readers with unnecessary information. Narrative summaries are good for unimportant parts of the story (for example, unless something relevant happens on the way to the party, the reader does not need to see the entirety of Shiela's trip there) while important portions would benefit from being whole scenes.

• What idea are do you want to communicate? If you are outright stating it, it is telling. If you are laying down pieces of it to make up a whole, it's showing.
• Showing and Telling are writing tools that allow writers to set the tone and style of their work. Neither is inherently good or bad, they're just tools. Some pieces work best with a majority of tells, some pieces work best with a majority of shows. A first person POV work, for example, would usually be mostly tells of the narrator's emotional state, because the narrator might acknowledge if they're pissed or sad or happy ("I'm so pissed right now! Ugh!"); unless, of course, the narrator is someone who likes to take note of their physical sensations---and that's character work that tells the readers that this character has a habit of doing that, perhaps they may have gone to therapy where they were taught such practices.
• There are plenty of reasons for a piece to have the style that it does---core themes, experimental nature, a character's behavior and personality, etc. etc.
• Showing and Telling aren't all or nothing paths you have to choose (unless, of course, that's the point of the work---again, everything is subjective to concept and style). Imagine them to be two different knives in a kitchen, each with a different function.
• Remember to have fun and be silly with it.