When running out of advice to help a struggling author improve their novel, a more seasoned author may point out the benefits of showing rather than telling. What exactly does that mean? Unless you are producing a picture book, it will be composed mostly, if not entirely, of words. Words tell us about characters and events. Pictures and movies show.

So what kind of word-filled book shows the story? Have you ever heard of Finnegan’s Wake by James Joyce ? You experience everything including the barely comprehensible conversations in Irish brogue. But, there’s little help from the author in determining what’s driving this story. Instead you must deduce events from passages bombarding you with descriptions.

If you do nothing but show your work might resemble La Jalousie by Alain Robbe-Grillet in which scenes record the slits of light through the blinds, the sweet, acrid scent of the lilacs, and the indolent movements of his wife outside. Each one is painted in extensive detail, but the reader must figure out what the wife is really doing and what the unnamed husband is imagining as he spies on her.

If you always show when writing you have a good chance of boring the reader. People unable to deal with this multitude of sights, sounds, smells, textures and inner dialog will simply stop reading. For example, you could write “The muscles in his neck contracted so his face shifted from the people towards the blank plastered wall as the stinging saline fluid collecting in the edges of his eyes begin to drip down across his cheeks.” Or, you could tell your audience, “He turned away so no one could see the tears.” This decision to determine the style that expresses content in the most convincing manner is one the writer makes multiple times.

Sometimes the character’s intentions or interior feelings must be named so that the reader is able to perceive it.

Readers may not comprehend what’s happening when a character shuffles his feet in the dust, or rubs his chin, or stares blankly into space while another character is talking. Sometimes their intentions or interior feelings must be named so that the reader is able to perceive it. Telling may be required when characters display subtle emotions such as anxiousness, restlessness or boredom. Many readers prefer to be told directly what is happening when this is accompanied by enough description that they feel present at the scene. However, when a scene seems to drag on, it’s time to truncate details.

Telling takes far fewer words than showing. Each writer must learn to balance these two. How do you know when to tell your audience and when to show them? Try this exercise, write the scene in two manners—one that shows most of the action, and one that directly reveals what is happening. Review your writing, and choose what works best. You may discover that combining these styles is the key to overcoming the “show don’t tell” advice.

Photo by Dayon Rodio