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Q&A Is straight-up writing someone's opinions telling?

All writing in print is (technically) telling. You can "show" in a movie or a play, but everything you're doing in a book is telling, if you want to get technical about it. A lot of times it is b...

posted 5y ago by Chris Sunami‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Answer
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T12:28:02Z (about 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/46671
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by user avatar Chris Sunami‭ · 2019-12-08T12:28:02Z (about 5 years ago)
**All writing in print is (technically) telling**. You can "show" in a movie or a play, but everything you're doing in a book is telling, if you want to get technical about it. A lot of times it _is_ better to go with the more immersive choice, the one that puts you more in the head and the experience of the character, _but not always_.

In this case, one option is:

> Visa squared his shoulders, knowing that Reino respected confidence.

You're "showing" Visa's actions, and telling his state of mind, and _that's okay_.

Another option is:

> Visa squared his shoulders, and did his best to look confident in front of Reino.

This is a mixture of telling and showing about Visa's actions.

Another option is:

> Visa squared his shoulders and puffed up his chest.

That's all "showing." It might be better, but isn't necessarily. You lose the direct info about him trying to impress his master, but you can arguably pick it up from context.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2019-07-16T15:08:35Z (over 5 years ago)
Original score: 4