SHOW DON’T TELL

SHOW DON’T TELL

Creative writing should build a world for
readers
Readers imagination should ‘grab’ at the
words that you use and run with the theme
It is essential to make your stories vibrant
SHOW, DON’T TELL
A good writer will use words to ‘show’ rather than ‘tell’. Compare the
following examples: 
Telling: She was hot.
Showing: Sweat rolled down her face and neck.

Telling: He was tall and well-built.

Showing:He was an athlete, with the body to match.

Telling: She was feeling very embarrassed.

Showing:Her face, red and glowing, could not hide her feelings.
Tell
Cassandra, the model was really tall and really stuck
up.
Show
Cassandra strolled into our house like she was on a
catwalk. ‘Hi,’ she looked like she was bored already.
Cassandra did the long slow model walk to the
nearest chair, ducking her head under the lounge
room light as if she would hit it. She was tall, but
trust me, she wasn’t that tall.
PRACTICE
Rewrite sentences so that they show, not tell.
She was so sad when she lost her puppy.
The cake was delicious.
Rewrite sentences to write a paragraph that shows,
not tells.
The garden was beautiful.
It was a stormy night.
It was an exciting day.