How to Show Don't Tell

“Show don’t Tell” you have probably heard those three words many times. No, your not back in first grade, ready to show the class your new toy, its different, but as meaningful to us writers as show and tell is to the giddy first grader.

What is show don’t tell? Show don’t tell really means, use your five senses to show the read what is going on, instead of saying

Darcy was mad.

You need to show the reader instead, because when you just say

Darcy was mad, Matt stole her pencil. BLAH BLAH BLAH.. It gets boring right? So you want to spice it up with some sensory images. Instead try,

Darcy’s eyes pierced through Matts pale skin. She her face turned the color of a purple beet. Sweat dripped down Matt’s neck and onto the fresh cut grass.

See how much better that sounds? Now you can imagine Darcy and Matt and find her in a crowded room. With that description you can now determine, also what kind of mad Darcy is.

Did you know? 5 out of 7 young writers know the meaning of Show don’t Tell. That is why it is important to learn. It makes our writing more sophisticated, as we grow older as readers and writers we want the story to captivate us, and that’s exactly what show don’t tell does.

A friend of mine brought up a good point, lots of children’s books and fairytales tell instead of show, she’s right. For example in Eric Carles book The Very Hungry Caterpillar all he does is tell. The caterpillar ate an apple on Monday ect.

I really hope this has helped you become a better writer, I’m just swamped with homework and my own writing on top of it, my posts will become longer, as long as I remember to save my work next time.