The Power of Show, Don’t Tell in Fiction Writing

Photo by Dan Dimmock on Unsplash

As a fiction writer with more than 7 years of experience, 2 published novellas and an upcoming novel, I’ve learned that one of the most important skills to master is the art of showing, not telling. The impact this technique will have on your writing is multifold and once you get to understand how to play the game, it’ll reflect on how your readers perceive your work.

Let’s try something.

Compare these two sentences:

• John was angry at Mary for breaking his trust.
• John slammed the door behind him, ignoring Mary’s pleas. He clenched his fists and felt a surge of heat in his chest. How could she do this to him?

The first sentence tells us how John feels, but it doesn’t produce an emotion or make us feel anything. The second sentence shows us how John acts, speaks, and reacts, and it makes us empathize with his anger and pain.

Showing means using sensory details, actions, dialogue, and other techniques to create vivid scenes that immerse the reader in the story. Telling means using exposition, summary, or description to convey information that could be shown instead.