5: Show vs. Tell
- Page ID
- 277395
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- Understand the differences between Show and Tell as narrative techniques.
- Recognize the benefits and drawbacks of each Show and Tell.
- Effectively blend Show and Tell within a single narrative.
Ying and Yang
Much like Show and Tell, Yin and Yang are two opposing forces that also work together to create harmony.
When writing a story, there is a delicate balance between two forces: Show and Tell. These forces, like Ying and Yang, will constantly fight for control of the narrative. You’ll often hear critics say “Show don’t Tell,” but that mistakenly ignores that all stories have a mixture of the two. It is unlikely that a story will have a perfect split between Show and Tell. Rather, a story may be more reliant on Tell and less on Show or vice versa. The problem occurs when the author fails to strike a balance that best fits the narrative of the story. Rather than being critical of one vs. the other, it is instead important to look at the strength and weakness of both forces and determine how best to implement them into your narrative.
Writing with Tell
When you “Tell” in a story, you are summarizing or narrating events straightforwardly. The author might be providing all the essential details that need to be told or simply explaining the exact emotions the characters are feeling.
Providing direct information to the reader rather than having them infer the information on their own.
The Benefits of Tell
Tell is very effective at being direct. If you need to explain a setting quickly, even in one sentence, Tell can be very helpful:
The condo is on the 34th floor in Chicago. It was owned by the crime lord, but since his arrest last year, it has recently been sold. Even though it sold for way above the asking price, the new owner decided to turn it into a mini museum. The owner knew he had a golden opportunity and decided to capitalize on his fortune. While he was nervous about potentially angering the crime syndicate, it was realized that there was nothing even remotely incriminating about the condo itself. With permission from the building, he opened the condo for select viewing and was immensely pleased with the turnout.
This paragraph above provided a ton of information regarding the condo, its history, and the owner’s motivation. Compacted into that paragraph are many important details that are needed by the reader. If the story started out with the owner welcoming people into the condo, it would be confusing:
“Welcome!” the owner shouted. “Come see where the crime lord lives.” Dozens of people waited outside of the condo, their wallets open, waiting to get a peek inside.
While the section above is not a bad section, it makes little sense without context. Tell is a great way to provide that information quickly so the audience does not have to piece together what is happening themselves. In fact, Tell is very useful at the beginning of a story or a particular new section of a story so the reader can understand the situation as soon as possible. This type of technique is called exposition, and it is useful if the reader needs to understand all the beginning details of an event in a condensed version.
A Tell technique that explains the background information about the setting, characters, and problem of a story.
The paragraph below provides enough exposition for the reader to understand the situation and the immediate problem:
The chief officer spoke to the people crowded in the office room. “I understand you are all nervous,” said the officer calmly. “But we need to have your patience while we sort this issue out. We received a report that one of the rooms may have a chemical substance that was not stored properly. If people are exposed to the chemical, it may cause respiratory problems. Therefore, until the cleanup team arrives, everyone is to stay put for their safety.”
Overall, Tell is like an instruction manual for a complicated piece of furniture that requires assembly. While it is possible for the person to figure out how to piece everything together on their own, it is significantly easier if they are just told how to do it.
The Drawbacks of Tell
At the same time, telling the reader everything about the story can be a problem. When you overdo exposition, or tell too much of a situation, it leaves little for the reader to discover on their own:
There were three doors that Michael could choose. Michael was nervous and didn’t know which one to pick. He thought about all of the possibilities for a long time. Then, he decided on an answer. He chose the first door. It was the wrong choice.
This section tells the reader exactly what Michael is thinking as well as the result of the wrong decision. Not everything has to be explicitly explained to the reader. Instead, it can be written not so blatantly, so the reader needs to figure out what is going on. For example, Michael was nervous is written entirely in Tell, but if we change it to Sweat drips down Michael’s face, it doesn’t tell the reader that he is nervous, but the reader can figure out what emotion he is experiencing. The same can be done with It was the wrong choice. Writing instead, When he opened the door, a terrible sound emanated from the darkness, implies that Michael made some sort of error. These alternatives, written in Show, allow the reader to think instead of being told.
Writing With Show
When you write in Show, you are asking the reader to discern what is happening in the moment.
Providing indirect information so the reader must piece together what the author is trying to convey.
The main criticism with Tell is it can feel too commanding if overdone. Sometimes, the reader does not want to be told what the character is feeling, but instead wants to experience it firsthand. It is one thing to tell that a character is walking in a bad neighborhood, but it is another experience when the reader is shown it is a bad neighborhood.
The Benefits of Show
Compare the two sentences below:
- It was a bad neighborhood.
- The neighborhood was covered in junk and squatters claimed abandoned homes.
The first sentence is in Tell and makes it clear that it is a bad neighborhood. However, what really does “bad” mean? We like to assume that everyone understands “bad,” but it is a subjective term that could be interpreted in a variety of ways. The second sentence uses Show to demonstrate why it is bad without explicitly saying it. The amount of junk and abandoned houses helps the reader piece together that there were probably no taxes to clean the streets and people could no longer afford to live in the area. More importantly, the reader can visualize the scene more clearly than “bad.” Show, quite literally, shows what is being described—allowing the reader to paint a mental image in their head. While there are times to simply say that a character is happy or sad, it is also important to demonstrate why or how the character is sad through Show:
|
Tell |
Show |
|---|---|
|
The man is happy. |
The man jumped up and down and laughed. |
|
The woman is sad. |
The woman tucked her knees together and sobbed. |
|
The dog is confused. |
The dog tilted his head and stopped wagging his tail. |
Generally, humans are visual learners, and being able to visualize something helps them understand the situation much better. It can be one thing to explain that a situation is dangerous, but for better retention, it will be far more memorable for the author to show why is it dangerous. Rather than having a character say, “The situation in the building is dangerous,” try showing the danger by writing something like, “A explosion erupted from inside the building—causing all the outsiders to back up for safety.” Give the reader a chance to experience the moment rather than just telling them what happened.
The Drawbacks of Show
Because Show is a passive technique where the reader needs to piece together what happened, you may not convey the moment correctly through Show. For example:
When the air conditioner turned on, the man crossed his arms and huffed.
What is being conveyed here? Does it mean that the man is cold and that’s why he’s crossing his arms and huffing? Could it mean that he never wanted the air conditioner on in the first place, and he’s crossing his arms in frustration? Either option could be correct since the author did not directly explain what the man’s disposition is. Sometimes, a character’s emotions or feelings are too complex for the reader to figure out on their own. Showing that a character has mixed emotions about walking their dog in the rain is hard to pull off. Though it is possible to show that sentiment, it will probably take several sentences and will be rather wordy. Instead, writing, “Susan had mixed feelings about walking her dog in the rain,” is perfectly fine. Not everything should be figured out by the reader. Too much reliance on Show can cause the reader to be irritable if they are not sure exactly what is happening. Forcing the reader to “figure it out” for everything can be mentally taxing and they could ultimately misinterpret what the author intended.
Weaving Show and Tell
The phrases “Show, don’t Tell” and “Show vs. Tell” can be misguiding because both Show and Tell should be working together, not against. Having a story slant aggressively to either Show or Tell will cause problems with the narrative, so striking a balance is key. Take, for example, this scene:
Outside, the lawn was an immaculate green. Fred had been working on cultivating a perfect lawn for almost a decade and during the spring, when the heavy rains fell, what remained was a soil-soaked ground ripe for fresh grass. For years, he tried to grow a backyard that was identical to his father’s—his childhood home. Unfortunately, he could never quite get it right. Yet, on that spring morning, when the dew still dangled on the blades, Fred saw it. Tears ran down Fred’s face. He struggled to breathe. He imagined his father standing next to him, a callous farmer’s hand fondly patting his son’s back.
The scene above blends in both Show and Tell when appropriate. The last three sentences are mainly in Show while the rest of the paragraph is in Tell. It is not so much having a 50/50 combination of Show and Tell but leveling out the narrative depending on the circumstances. Think of balancing a seesaw: it would probably take one child to balance another child, but it may take three children to balance one adult. Sometimes, a scene may only require a bit of Tell with a heavy dose of Show. In some cases, like the example above, only a sentence or two of Show is required. There is no exact formula for what is appropriate. After all, writing is more of an art than a science, and it is up to the author to feel and seek the balance.
Balancing does not always mean being equal.
Check In: Show or Tell?
- 5.1: Reading Exercise – The Gifts of the Warriors
- This short story is a companion piece to the guide on Show vs. Tell.