Showing Vs. Telling
Aug 23, 2014 15:41:19 GMT -5
Post by Harper Jones on Aug 23, 2014 15:41:19 GMT -5
If anyone has had a creative writing class, your teacher or professor has probably tried to drill the fact into you that you need to show your readers instead of tell. What does that exactly mean?
Basically, this means you want to get descriptive about what's going on, without telling your reader flat out what's happening. I'll give a couple of examples so you can see the difference between showing and telling.
Telling: She was mad.
Showing: Red seemed to form around her vision as her hands curled into fists. Her breathing got heavier as she tried to hold back from punching him in the face.
Telling: There were old magic books on the shelves.
Showing: The books on the shelves were leather-bound and covered with a fine layer of dust. However,that dust couldn't cover the gold print on the spine which hinted to the magic the books held.
Telling: He was hungry.
Showing: His stomach growled as he got a slight pain in his side. He looked longingly at the clock as he counted down the minutes until he could go to lunch.
Hopefully that makes sense to you and you can start using it in your writing. If you have any other tips/tricks, feel free to post down below!
Basically, this means you want to get descriptive about what's going on, without telling your reader flat out what's happening. I'll give a couple of examples so you can see the difference between showing and telling.
Telling: She was mad.
Showing: Red seemed to form around her vision as her hands curled into fists. Her breathing got heavier as she tried to hold back from punching him in the face.
Telling: There were old magic books on the shelves.
Showing: The books on the shelves were leather-bound and covered with a fine layer of dust. However,that dust couldn't cover the gold print on the spine which hinted to the magic the books held.
Telling: He was hungry.
Showing: His stomach growled as he got a slight pain in his side. He looked longingly at the clock as he counted down the minutes until he could go to lunch.
Hopefully that makes sense to you and you can start using it in your writing. If you have any other tips/tricks, feel free to post down below!
