Understand the writing “rules” so you can break them in style.
‘Show, don’t tell’ is one of the most frequently cited pieces of writing advice. It’s the first thing some authors think about in the morning, and the last thing they kiss goodnight. On the surface, it may seem simple, but much like Not Quite Write Podcast co-host Amanda, it contains multitudes…
Put simply, ‘Show, don’t tell’ is about revealing information through action rather than summarising the facts. In other words, it’s about providing evidence so readers can draw their own conclusions, instead of telling them exactly what to think.
A key subset of ‘Show, don’t tell’ is the advice to ‘Never name an emotion.’
In real life, we sense others’ emotions through facial expressions, posture, tone of voice, and behaviour. Sometimes we perceive a changing mood through no more than a subtle shift in the air.
Writing something like ‘Emma was angry’ tells readers how to feel. Showing her anger instead through behaviour, dialogue, or physical reactions better mirrors our real-life experience of human emotion, allowing us to connect more deeply with the character as a result.
Practical ways to do more ‘showing’
A simple way of approaching ‘Show, don’t tell’ is to think of your story like a movie and yourself as the director. What’s happening on screen? How can you guide the scene so that we understand your characters’ thoughts and feelings without a narrator to explain?
Following are some suggestions of practical ways to inject more ‘showing’ moments into your prose:
- Engage the five senses
Use sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and textures to make us feel like we’re right there in the scene. You don’t need to invoke all five senses all the time. Be selective.
Telling: The kitchen was messy after the party.
Showing: Empty bottles crowded the bar. Above, a ceiling fan ticked in steady rhythm, it’s warm, beer-soured breath nudging a lone balloon in slow, directionless circles.
- Infuse subtext
Include suggestive details that imply additional meaning ‘between the lines,’ and trust us to connect the dots.
Telling: Josh didn’t want to speak to his high school counsellor.
Showing: The bell rang just as Josh shuffled into Ryan’s office, his size 15 sneakers scraping the carpet with every step.
Note: Make sure readers understand the basics of the scene before the action starts. Otherwise, we might get confused when new details disrupt our mental picture. For example, in the ‘showing’ sentence above, the use of a first name suggests this might be a school counsellor’s office, but we may need more context to stop us from assuming it’s the principal’s office.
- Externalise emotions using physical cues
Deliver emotion as a sensory experience. Use a character’s external gestures, posture, tone of voice, body language, dialogue, and physical sensations to show what’s happening inside.
Telling: Sam was furious.
Showing: Sam’s fingers curled around the steering wheel until his knuckles blanched. His words strained through clenched teeth, tight enough to snap.
The first example tells readers how Sam is feeling. The second places us in the scene. Depending on the context, this kind of description might incite similar, empathic fury in the reader, or it might be designed to scare us. Either way, if you can make us feel something with your words, you’ll be doing well.
Note: Some neurodiverse writers may find it difficult to pick up on subtle emotional cues. If you’re one of those writers, think of emotion as a language: your job is to try and translate what your characters are feeling inside into visible, audible, or tangible signs your readers can perceive.
- Reveal character traits through their appearance and behaviour
You don’t need to announce who your characters are as they arrive on the scene. Instead, let them show us. A character’s appearance, habits, reactions, and small decisions will reveal more than any label ever could, and humanising your characters in this way can deepen our connection to them.
Telling: Trevor liked to play with fire.
Showing: As Trevor rubbed his eyes, a faded hospital band peeked out from beneath his sleeve. He pulled a prescription for burn ointment from the singed back pocket of his trousers and slid it across the counter.
- Give us the dialogue
Instead of summarising a conversation, let readers hear it. Real dialogue, complete with interruptions, pauses, and subtext, can advance the plot and build tension, while also revealing important information about the characters and their relationships with each other.
Telling: They argued over who should drive.
Showing: ‘You always drive too fast,’ she snapped.
‘At least I don’t mount the gutters,’ he shot back.
‘That was once!’
‘Twice. Which reminds me, you still owe me for that garden gnome.’
- Use character ‘voice’
Filter information through your main character’s unique perspective and vocabulary. This way, your words will do double duty: giving the reader essential information about the scene while also revealing who the character is and how they think, again inviting deeper connection.
Telling: The house needed repairs.
Showing: The hardwood floors were scuffed and stained, worn in places down to the raw, splintered wood. I kicked off my shoes and pressed my toes into her grooves, acknowledging each earned scar.
When telling works
What you may have noticed in the examples above is that the ‘showing’ version often requires more words. That’s great if you’re trying to pad out a novel, but it may be alarming if you’re already struggling to meet a 500-word limit.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with ‘telling’, particularly in flash fiction where you don’t have the words to dramatise every detail. The trick is determining which elements are best served by telling and which deserve their moment in the spotlight.
Here are some instances when ‘telling’ may be the more appropriate choice:
- When the information is essential to understanding but not tied to character or emotion.
- When excessive detail would slow momentum or distract from more important story elements.
- To efficiently bridge scenes, skip unimportant events, or summarise the passage of time.
- For clarity, when ‘showing’ would obscure important information or confuse the reader.
- For simplicity, to avoid overwriting or veering into purple prose.
- As a stylistic choice, for example to create a particular narrative tone or mimic a recognisable structure like a fairytale or fable.
- When a tight word count demands it.
You can also mix showing and telling. For instance, when describing a setting, you might use ‘telling’ to provide essential clarity (they sat on the beach), while layering in ‘showing’ through sensory details, similes, and metaphors to create mood (the sky stretched wide and bruised, clouds curling like smoke on the horizon).
In summary
‘Show, don’t tell’ pushes us to deliver more immersive, emotionally resonant storytelling. However, like all writing “rules,” it functions best as a guiding principle rather than an absolute law. The real skill lies in knowing when to dramatise action for maximum impact and when to summarise to keep the story moving.
Master the technique first, then break it strategically, not through ignorance, but through deliberate craft choices that serve your story’s specific needs. You’ll know you’ve succeeded when your readers say, ‘It’s like I was there.’
The anti-prompt for the October 2025 Not Quite Write Prize for Flash Fiction challenges writers to break the rule, ‘Show, don’t tell’. For advice on how to effectively break the rule, read our companion article, Breaking the rule: ‘Show, don’t tell’.