The Power of“Showing” versus “Telling”

Showing vs. Telling

• "Telling" communicates facts

• TELLING: All the kids knew that Lucinda was the meanest kid in the third grade.  She was prissy and cute; she wore bows in her hair and shiny black shoes, and she thought that meant she could get away with anything.  She never exactly scared me -- but for some reason she would always go out of her way to torment me.  I wasn't one of the "cool" kids, and the few kids I knew were just the guys I played chess with during recess -- they weren't really friends.  Plus, I was clumsy.  So I was a good target.  I was so miserable and lonely, I could hardly face going to class each day.  That little girl made my life a living hell.

• "Showing" invites understanding

• When she saw me, she stopped; her ponytail bobbed threateningly, and her eyes tracked me across the cafeteria. When the recess bell rang, I clutched my chess set and dashed to freedom, eager to win the daily tournament of outcasts.  Of course, I tripped in front of the whole class. Tennis shoes and sandals stepped around me and over me as I scrambled after pawns and bishops.  And there was Lucinda, waiting for me to notice her; she smiled, lifted her shiny patent-leather shoe, and slowly, carefully ground my white queen into the pavement. 

Important Note

• "Showing" involves more than a long list of adjectives.

• Sometimes students misinterpret what I mean by "showing."  They put all kinds of adjectives in their writing, describing everything from the color of the wallpaper to the shape of their own legs, regardless of whether such details actually advance the story.

• The point of "showing" is not to drown the reader in a sea of details. Instead, you should pick out only those details that matter.

How to know if you are SHOWING

• Does the detail help establish or intensify the mood?

• Does it define a character?

• Does it clarify an action?

Practicing SHOWING

• Dominant impressions are important to understand in order to SHOW an emotion or quality.

• Writing so readers understand your dominant impression will help you understand how to SHOW instead of TELL

A reminder…

The DOMINANT IMPRESSION of a piece is the single quality, mood or atmosphere the writer chooses to emphasize.

Directions

• For each of the eight images:

–Write the dominant impression of each image.

–Write specific details from the picture that helps support that dominant impression.

Image 1

Image 2

Image 3

Image 4

Image 5

Image 6

Image 7

Image 8

Reflection

• What is the difference between “telling” about a scene and “showing” a scene?

• How would this have been different if I had told you about these pictures, rather than shown you? Would we have all seen the same picture in our heads?

• What is the benefit of showing versus telling?