One of our recent exercises covered the advanced skill of applying the “show don’t tell” idea to character descriptions.

This is a great skill to have and will go a long way in helping your readers feel more connected to your characters. But before you can elevate your writing with this technique, you need to have a firm grasp on the basics of show don’t tell.

That’s what this writing exercise is all about.

What Does It Mean to Show Instead of Tell?

The idea of show don’t tell is most commonly used in reference to setting descriptions and character emotions.

When you tell your audience what a scene looks like or what a character is feeling, you rob them of the ability to experience those things themselves.

If I tell you the hero is upset, you get all the information you need to understand what is happening. But not what you need to be immersed within it.

But if I show you how the hero’s blood is pulsing through his veins, how his heartbeat is threatening to burst his eardrums, and how his face is glowing red like the summer sun during a smoky California fire season, then you get to experience that anger.

Showing rather than telling has powerful effects on writing

By describing what someone is feeling or how something looks, you make your reader connect the details to create a full picture. This forces them to be more engaged in the story.

Showing also creates images in your reader’s mind and sensations inside them. They feel and see what your characters do.

We all have those books that just stick with us. This is the reason why.

Combining effective showing techniques with a unique and interesting story will leave your readers thinking about your book long after they have finished it. And this will keep them looking for more.

How Do You Show Instead of Tell In Your Writing?

Even if you know that it is better to show rather than tell, it can still be difficult to put it into practice. And even harder to catch yourself when you fall back into old habits.

Here are some red flags that might signal that you are telling rather than showing in a piece of writing:

• Use of sensory words – Phrases like “he/she/I saw” and “he/she/I heard” are good indicators that you are about to tell your reader what someone is experiencing rather than letting them experience it themselves.
  • Telling: He felt something touch his arm.
  • Showing: Something brushed across his arms, tickling the hairs and sending his skin prickling despite the heat.
• Use of emotion names – You can’t completely avoid these, but the use of words like “sad,” “happy,” and “bored” can be a warning sign that you are telling your reader what your character is feeling rather them letting them draw that conclusion on their own by showing them how the character is reacting.
  • Telling: As she moved through the door for the last time, she was overcome with sadness.
  • Showing: As she stepped through the doorway, a weight settled in her gut. She couldn’t bring herself to set her foot on the cracked porch, to leave the home she had called her own for so long.
• “There is” and “there are” – Interestingly enough, simply removing these phrases can quickly turn a passive, bland sentence into an active, immersive sentence. It isn’t exactly a difference of telling vs showing, but it has a similar effect on your writing.
  • Passive: There were naked incandescent light bulbs hanging from the ceiling.
  • Active: Naked incandescent light bulbs hung from the ceiling.

Practice Your Showing Skills

One of the best ways to improve your showing skills is to practice turning telling sentences into immersive, descriptive showing sentences.

Below are five bland, boring sentences that tell the reader about the scene. Your job is to turn each into an engaging sentence (or sentences) that shows the scene.

Before we get started, here are a few tips for building a good “show” sentence:

• Use plenty of descriptive text.
• Describe what a character is doing (their body language and actions) rather than how they are feeling.
• Use strong verbs that convey the emotion of the scene.

Ready to get started?

Transform each of these tell sentences into show a sentence:

1. The neighborhood was crime infested and dangerous.
2. He burns himself on the kettle as he pulls it off the stove.
3. The blue vase was older than the red one that sat beside it.
4. She was angry at her mother for not letting her go to the game.
5. The sight of the old blue vase made me sad.

Don’t forget to share your work with The WRITE Prompt community! Choose your favorite show sentence you created from the tells above and post it in the comments section below.