Show, Don’t Tell : Show, Don’t Tell Making the reader “see”
Illustrate : Illustrate Turn the abstract into the concrete by using anecdotes (short stories), examples, or description.
Slide 3: Showing means to “give evidence”; if you say your teacher is unfair, for example, I don’t know exactly what you mean. But if you give me a specific example—“my teacher gives all the boys in the class A’s and all the girls F’s even when they have the same answers”—then I do know just what you mean by “unfair.”
Slide 4: If you say “My sister is attractive,” would I be able to picture her? No, but if you describe her button nose, her consilk-soft blonde hair, her twinkling green eyes, and her tinkling laugh, I can begin to both see AND hear her.
Slide 5: Think of showing as anything that can be tape-recorded or filmed--in other words, proven by the senses.
Be specific : Be specific Avoid generalized language.
My mother is nice.
My mother is kind.
My mother taught me many things.
My mother supports me.
Telling: The woman was sick. She didn’t look lively at all. She showed symptoms of illness. She clearly was not herself. : Telling: The woman was sick. She didn’t look lively at all. She showed symptoms of illness. She clearly was not herself. Showing: The woman curled up on the bed, unmoving. A sticky film covered her half-closed eyes. Her once shiny brown hair appeared tangled and matted. She breathed with a harsh, rattling sound.
Slide 8: Telling
The soldier was impressive.
Slide 9: Showing: He was a stocky, barrel-chested man in his thirties with thick, muscular forearms, a jagged scar running along his forehead, a Purple Heart and Vietnam Service Ribbon emblazoned on his chest.
Slide 10: Telling
I was angry.
Slide 11: Showing: I clenched my fists and glared at my mother, pressure welling up inside me like a volcano. How dare she tell me how to dress, as though I were a child!
Slide 12: Telling
Bill caught the ball.
Slide 13: Showing: Bill raced to the backfield, turned, leaped; the ball smacked loudly into his glove.
Slide 14: Instead of using abstract words like “interesting,” “angry,” “fun,” or “good,” to tell, use concrete and specific words to show.