Show, don’t Tell

Do you have the feeling that your stories sometimes feel flat and boring even though there are loads of awesome and creative ideas mixed into them?

What you should do is show, don’t tell.

I know, it is an old concept that most of you probably have heard about before. Still, I often hear from fellow writers that they have trouble implementing it, unable to pin down what it is about this rather simple and powerful advice that is so hard to put to good use.

Why is telling so bad?

Telling is a quite efficient way to give the reader a lot of information with as little words as possible. But it loses all emotion and feeling in the process.

Example:

Let me give you an example from CoS that will be eye-opening to you!

When Harry asks Tom Riddle through his diary about the first time the Chamber was opened, Riddle decides that instead of just telling Harry what has happened, he can show him by taking him into the memory. Wouldn’t it have been boring if Tom Riddle had written pages and pages just telling us about how Moaning Myrtle had been killed, and how he had accused Hagrid for her death? This is a clever example to package something in an engaging way.

But how can you use this?

• Reduce your plot to the absolutely necessary!
  Make sure your plot is not bursting at the seams, especially when you are working with a word count! If you overload a story that is limited by words or simply by your own stamina as a writer, it will be hard to avoid telling. When writers try to squeeze too much into one story, they often tend to compensate that by glossing over events. Reduce your plot so you have enough space to set the scene, introduce the characters, let emotions play out and of course let your action take place. 

• Let your characters talk in an interaction!
  Dialogue often suffers most from telling, and dialogue will help you out of the telling-trap. It forces you to think of the implications of an interaction, how characters react and how exactly they say something. It can help with characterisation and to introduce emotion. But do not let your characters take over the telling! That is even worse than using the narrator’s voice.

• Use vivid description!
  It is important to describe how things happen instead of that they happen. If your character is crying, describe the tears on their face, the sobs they have to gloup back, the heartbreak they feel. If your character is angry, let them scream bloody murder, break something or stalk off stomping. Let them show their feelings instead of telling us about them.

And last but not least, write action!
You are not a movie director that has to save budget and cut battles short; let events take place! You have all the resources the imagination has to offer. You can blow up a city, you can zoom in on all the details, and you can give insight into intimate moments of your characters in the most remote corners of the world.