Writing Tip: Show, don't tell!

This may seem like an obvious tip, but it’s one that is difficult to follow. Essentially this tip means what it says, do not tell the reader what is happening. That’s very boring. Show the reader what is happen.

Examples of telling and showing.

Telling

On a cold, windy night, a less that experienced author might tell the reader, Thomas was cold. The writer simply told the reader that Thomas was cold. The reader is left outside the story and doesn’t share the cold that Thomas is feeling.

Showing

An experienced writer will put the reader right there in the story, in the cold, suffering right along with Thomas. The experienced writer may write, A cold wind swirled around Thomas. It sent a chill through his body as it blew under his coat and down his neck. His hands had already lost all feeling. And to make it even worse, his cheeks and the tip of his nose actually hurt from the unending frigid wind hitting him face on. God, would he ever be warm again?

In the Telling section, the reader is told that Thomas is cold. The reader may as well be lying on a beach in Miami.

In the Showing section, the reader is right there, in the cold, suffering right along with Thomas.

This short section on Showing and Not Telling should not be considered as the only information a beginning writer should know on this subject. A beginning writer should be very at ease with this concept.