Show Don’t Tell

Television and social media have changed us. We increasingly prefer to see live events rather than hear a later recount. It follows that as readers we prefer to ‘see’ the story, rather than hear about it.

Compare the following sentences:
He was nervous. 
He tapped his fingers on the tabletop.

The first tells, the second shows.

“Show don’t tell” is an old writing adage most often applied to fiction writing. It is harder to do this in non-fiction magazine articles or newsletters where you have little space, and you aren’t telling a personal story, but it is possible.

A balance of show and tell is needed. Adding some “showing” to your writing can bring a piece of writing to life. For example, your next prayer letter:

September will be busy.

Could be rewritten as:
In September Wendy is away for four nights and David for eight. Then we’ll all travel to a conference for the last week of the month.

Dialogue also livens up writing. Instead of writing:
Mr Yamaguchi asked if we could study the Bible together.

Try:
One day I saw Mr Yamaguchi at the barber shop and he said, “I’m interested in the Bible. Could we study together?”

I’ve not just added dialogue in the example; I’ve also added some context, so that the reader can ‘see’ you having this conversation in the barber shop.

By being more aware that just telling your audience what’s going on can be boring, you can make changes that will get your reader’s attention. Once you have their attention, you increase the chance that your writing will be read thoroughly. In this busy world that is what you want, isn’t it?