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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/19353
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

"Show Don't Tell" is an axiom of fiction writing.

Here is a short example of why.

**Example of Telling**

> Bob was feeling sad.

**Example of Showing**

> Bob picked up the newspaper, read the headline and his head dropped beneath his shoulders. He rubbed at his eyes as tears dropped onto the paper.

**Narrative Versus Exposition** The _first one is a narrative voice_ where someone tells you what is happening and how a particular character feels. This is a much easier way to write and generally takes fewer words. However, your readers will have difficulty seeing what you are writing and it is generally more boring to read.

**Exposition - Exposing the Actions of Characters**

The second one takes more words, because you have to show the character taking actions.

However, the second example also takes more active reading since the reader will decide what he thinks about how the character feels. Obviously, in this case I mentioned that tears were flowing and the reader is most likely going to get the idea that the character is sad, but this type of writing does allow more subtle cues to how the character feels.

**Books Versus Movies** Think about the way you learn who a character is and what she is feeling in a movie. In 99.9% of the movies there is no internal narration going on telling you that Bob is very sad.

Instead you have to watch and see the actions of Bob on screen.

**Self or Others** This leads us to why this is an axiom for fiction writers and not necessarily the best when writing personal essays.

If we are watching or reading fiction then we should probably just watch the character's actions and determine how the character feels. It is a better kind of reading experience since it takes more active involvement.

**Essay?**

However, if you're writing an essay, you may want to say things out loud, like,

> I felt very sad. I was overwhelmed when my girlfriend dumped me.

However, again, notice that the narrative -- versus exposition of showing your actions -- is kind of boring. If instead you show your girlfriend dump you and then show yourself picking up a glass vase and hurling it across the room, everyone reading knows you are feeling upset and you haven't had to speak those exact words and it **probably has more dramatic impact.**

Original score: 1