Showing, Not Telling

This is critical. Let me repeat: critical.

Probably one of the most aspects in writing that is so easy to achieve successfully and remember to always do is the art of showing and not telling. This is important and does so much to improve your writing, yet people always seem to let this fall by the wayside.

And I'm not just saying this of other people. I struggle with this as well and only recently realized what it even was. But now that I know, I can see a considerable improvement in even my own writing.

In the following paragraphs I am going to discuss and explain types of showing versus telling.

First comes perhaps the biggest type of mistake that can be made. Showing emotion and not telling the emotion. In the character sense, it is easy to tell how a character is feeling instead of showing the feelings through action. This is especially easy to do when writing in first person. Consider the following example:

     He was dead. I could hardly believe it. I was so sad and felt like crying forever. I didn't want to eat. I didn't want to sleep. I was barely living.

That passage is littered with telling instead of feeling. He was dead. I was so sad and felt like crying forever. Those are just some of the examples that tell instead of show. They don't immerse the reader in the story and fail to provoke much sympathy from the reader. Now, consider that same passage edited to tell not show:

     His lifeless body, cold and still, laid motionless in the casket. I averted my wet eyes and drew in a shaky breath. My knees were weak and my stomach protested from its emptiness. I slowly made my way back to my chair where the tears burst forth once again.

Yes, they aren't exactly the same, but isn't the second one so much more meaningful? Can't you feel the character's pain and hopelessness so much more?

That, my friends, is what you are missing out on when you fail to show instead of tell.

Next comes another method of showing versus telling. Word choice. Yes, you could write that Sara smiled. But it is so much better so be more specific and say that she grinned. You could write that John walked up to the door, or you could write that he skipped up to the door.

The word choices are very important and also make the difference in meaningful and concrete writing.

Using specific, concrete words are always preferred in writing when you are trying to show and not tell.

For example:

Verbs: use sprint instead of run, grasp instead of get, collapse instead of fall, tear instead of open, gather instead of grab, etc.

Nouns: use apple instead of fruit, lipstick instead of makeup, mother instead of person, use dog instead of animal, pasta instead of food, etc.

Those are just some of the many examples that there are for switching out abstract words for concrete ones. And if you do that, then you are a step in the right direction towards showing in your writing and not telling.

Now go have fun with it! Have fun adding details and adding emotion and empathy to your characters and plot. Also, if you Google concrete words list, I'm sure you will find plenty of lists to help you get started.