My Golden Rules to ‘Show Don’t Tell’
Show don’t tell is one of the most relevant writing techniques, it confers quality to the texts and involves the readers, it grabs them.
What is Show don’t tell?
Show don’t tell is easy to, theoretically, understand; however, it can be complex to apply it.
But the good news is, once you understand it and use it, there’s no going back: your writing will include it, intuitively.
The writer, Anton CheKhov, defined Show don’t tell like this:
Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on the broken glass.
The difference between Show and Tell
As a writer, your goal is to provoke a reaction in your readers, take them to feel the emotions your character is feeling.
The difference between show and tell is that, show invokes on the reader a mental image of the scene/emotion, while tell is a statement of an action/emotion.
Show
Show is a tool used to pull the reader to a scene. By using it, you’re creating a connection between the reader and your scene/character. This happens because you’re making the reader interpret what’s happening, instead of telling him what he should understand or feel. See More . . .
