Show, Don’t Tell

“Show, Don’t Tell” gets a bad rap as far as writing advice goes. This is because frequently it becomes a “catch-all” for just about anything a feedback-giver feels is “bad”. As a result, this note can end up being frustrating, rather than illuminating.

However, at its heart, it IS good stuff. It basically describes the sensation in the reader of feeling “placed away” from the events in the story. This is not dramatic, because the writer is not INVOLVING us *in* the story.

It ends up feeling a bit, “And then … And then … And then …” because of ‘info dumps’. Writers may dump a load of exposition on us mistaking it as worldbuilding … or maybe tells us via character dialogue what’s going on too much, ie:

PAUL: Why do you drink so much?

KEITH: I started drinking when I was fourteen. Looking back now, I see it was to numb the pain. My parents never cared about me and were always working. There was this one guy who supposedly took an interest, but he was grooming me. Before I knew it, he was abusing me. I couldn’t tell anyone; I felt too ashamed. The abuse stopped when I left home, but I never went back. My parents never got why. Now I have my own son, I live in fear of it happening to him. 

The above may happen anywhere, but especially in drama scripts and YA novels. The characters will name their pain very obviously, maybe even returning to it over and over.

Various other characters will even facilitate this, by ‘breaking them open’ (aka asking them questions about how they feel). This is never more obvious than with the therapist or psychiatrist character. Yes, it’s these people’s jobs to do this, but pay attention to the vast majority of characters in therapy in produced shows or movies or in novels. They usually go out of their way to NOT answer the therapist, or even engage with them properly. There’s a reason for that!

So, remember:

Keyword: DRAMATISE. In other words, don’t just tell us what we want to know. Utilise character behaviour and make your protagonist, antagonist, suppoorting characters etc EARN the right to speak. Show, don’t tell!

Check out the infographic below and remember, if you want to work on your screenplay or novel, B2W is available to help! CLICK HERE or use the contact form.

More on this blog about this topic:

How To Write Visual Openers That Grab The Reader

1 Wrong Belief That’s DESTROYING Your Scene Description

How To Write Tight & Visual Scene Description

How To Write A Fantastic Opening Sentence In Your Novel

8 Ways To Jump Start Your Novel’s Description