What is "telling not showing"?

ccarver30 · Jul 2, 2007

I have seen it in a couple threads and am trying to figure it out. Help?

(Or "telling instead of showing".)

Willowmound · Jul 2, 2007

Instead of writing, "Poopy was an angry man," show in scenes how Poopy always shouts at people and bangs fists on tables. You're then showing us he's an angry man. Much more effective than just telling us he is.

Edit: It should be "showing not telling". You have it wrong way round.

seun · Jul 2, 2007

Is Poopy angry because his name is Poopy?

sadron · Jul 2, 2007

I'm tying to write like that. It's hard.

ccarver30 · Jul 2, 2007

I see! So, don't be captain obvious. Give examples insted of just blurting out what you want the reader to know.

Thanks!

Don't they mean the same thing? Telling not showing, showing not telling? Either way, one of them is "right" and one of them is "wrong".

reenkam · Jul 2, 2007

I think it's "showing, not telling"

generally...

maybe you want just to tell...

Willowmound · Jul 2, 2007

seun said:
Is Poopy angry because his name is Poopy?

It infuriates him to no end.

Willowmound · Jul 2, 2007

ccarver30 said:
Don't they mean the same thing? Telling not showing, showing not telling? Either way, one of them is "right" and one of them is "wrong".

Not wrong. There is a place and time. But focus on showing, for now. Most newbies make the mistake of telling everything.

ccarver30 · Jul 2, 2007

Willowmound said:
Not wrong. There is a place and time. But focus on showing, for now. Most newbies make the mistake of telling everything.

I definitely have to examine this in my novels. Thank you!

Moon Daughter · Jul 2, 2007

Willowmound said:
Not wrong. There is a place and time. But focus on showing, for now. Most newbies make the mistake of telling everything.

Guilty as charged.

ChaosTitan · Jul 2, 2007

There are lots of links to this topic in the FAQ, as well.

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showpost.php?p=657734&postcount=17

James D. Macdonald · Jul 2, 2007

Sometimes the best way to in-clue the readers is just to tell them something. Sometimes the best way is to show them something. The art comes in knowing when -- and how -- to do each.

See post #7 in this thread from HapiSofi: http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=861

ccarver30 · Jul 2, 2007

Thanks, all!

Dancre · Jul 2, 2007

ccarver30 said:
I see! So, don't be captain obvious. Give examples insted of just blurting out what you want the reader to know. Thanks!

Don't they mean the same thing? Telling not showing, showing not telling? Either way, one of them is "right" and one of them is "wrong".

Show not tell. But telling isn't an evil force sent from hell. Telling can move the character from point A to point B. It can also move the characters along to the important stuff. You can also use it to make the reader use her imagination. I think of showing as a spotlight, something that you want the reader to notice and get, like a child who throws a tantrum b/c she wants you to know she wants something. But too much tell and the reader can't get into the story. Too much show and the story is bogged down. So you have a perfect balance. Studying well-written books will help you understand show vs. tell.

kim

raydad · Jul 2, 2007

Willowmound said:
Instead of writing, "Poopy was an angry man," show in scenes how Poopy always shouts at people and bangs fists on tables.

Like:

Poopy stormed through the door, drop-kicked his cat across the room, slammed his bag of writing books on the table and said, "I'll get that writer for naming me Poopy!".

Ullikummis · Jul 2, 2007

Dancre said:
Show not tell. But telling isn't an evil force sent from hell. Telling can move the character from point A to point B. It can also move the characters along to the important stuff. You can also use it to make the reader use her imagination. I think of showing as a spotlight, something that you want the reader to notice and get, like a child who throws a tantrum b/c she wants you to know she wants something. But too much tell and the reader can't get into the story. Too much show and the story is bogged down. So you have a perfect balance. Studying well-written books will help you understand show vs. tell.

kim

I think it boils down to what is most fun to read. When you using "Showing," you are engadging the reader and bringing them into the story, but sometimes, there is no fun way to show something to the reader, so you need to pull out the trusty "tell."

maestrowork · Jul 2, 2007

The best stories are done through BOTH telling and showing, to give the readers a unique experience and perspective. It's like fine cooking -- you can't say it has to follow the recipe to the T or whether you have to use X amount of salt vs. Y amount of sugar, etc. It's how all the ingredients come together...

However, when you're learning how to write, it's good to look at examples of show vs. tell.

In general, "show" is more exciting and detailed and enables the readers to actually experience your story instead of being told about something. But tell is great for speeding up the pace, or summarizing something that can be mundane if you show ("They had breakfast with eggs and ham and it was delicious" is perfectly fine to get the story going, instead of writing a long scene talking about the breakfast.)

Hillgate · Jul 2, 2007

I'm sure I have deja-vu with this thread...

...'Show don't tell' (I thought) applied more to screenplays than books. You really must show not tell in a screenplay or it sounds dreadful. In books, as Maestrowork says, you can show and then sometimes you can tell, but as others have said, it's knowing when and how to do it that are the tricky things.

I like using a first person narrator whose actual choice of words and actions speak louder than a straight descriptive or 'show 'em' style. I like it if the author (ie you or me) is invisible. The minute you can hear or feel us rather than the characters then your work, IMHO, is struggling.

Hope that muddies the waters further. I think I'll open a bottle of wine now...(PS it's evening where I am...)

blacbird · Jul 2, 2007

sadron said:
I'm tying to write like that. It's hard.

Yes it is.

caw

maestrowork · Jul 2, 2007

A great example of "show" is screenplays. No, they're not as detailed as prose, but if you want to know how to "show" a story instead of telling, screenplays are a wonderful source of material.

MMcC · Jul 2, 2007

It's all Hemmingway's fault.

Poopy was an angry man. He was a man who would often become angry. He walked into the room seething with anger and all were impressed with his angrinositicity. Poopy. Was. Angry. Anger was at the very heart of his poopishness.

COULD SOMEBODY CALL F. SCOTT FITGERALD AND ORDER UP A KEGGER????

Dawnstorm · Jul 2, 2007

Poopy was an angry man, though you couldn't tell by looking at him.

Show this!

What is "telling not showing"?

ccarver30

Nicole Castro

Willowmound

Lightly salted

seun

Horror Man

sadron

Writing Dark Fantasy

ccarver30

Nicole Castro

reenkam

aka cupcake

Willowmound

Lightly salted

Willowmound

Lightly salted

ccarver30

Nicole Castro

Moon Daughter

ChaosTitan

Around

James D. Macdonald

Your Genial Uncle

ccarver30

Nicole Castro

Dancre

Just have fun.

raydad

Ullikummis

maestrowork

Fear the Death Ray

Hillgate

On location

blacbird

maestrowork

Fear the Death Ray

MMcC

Dawnstorm

punny user title, here