Post #209 April 13 2020

“Showing and Telling”

There is a long tradition in storytelling that says something like this: Show, don’t tell.  This means that, all else being equal, it’s better to show how much Johnny loves Katie rather than tell us that Johnny loves Katie.  This dictum is saying that, for maximum impact on the reader, to engage the reader in your story, dramatize what Johnny does to illustrate how much he loves Katie.  Maybe he buys roses (if he has enough money and works two jobs).  Maybe he stands outside her window and throws rocks late at night to get her attention (though nowadays that would be considered creepy and probably trespassing, if not stalking).  Maybe he Instagrams cute little love-grams starring him and his cat.

Whatever.  The point is that your reader will engage with the story and its characters more completely if he can ‘experience’ loving Katie through what Johnny does.  It’s supposed to be more engaging than having you as the author just say Johnny loves Katie and leaving it at that.

Except this isn’t always true.  To paraphrase Ecclesiastes, there is a time to show and there is a time to tell.

1.  When to show
    
   You show when you want to move the story forward, which should pretty much be all the time.  If a scene or an encounter is important to the story and the plot, dramatize it.  Show the reader what happens, who does what, who says what, how Johnny shaved off his hair out of love for Katie. 
    
   You show when your scene involves the main character, when you want to illuminate something about this character.  Why is Johnny so smitten with Katie?  You could tell the reader.  But it’s more powerful if you show Johnny doing something that leads the reader to make his own conclusions about the depth of Johnny’s infatuation with this girl.
    
   You show when you need to illustrate or demonstrate or elaborate critical points in the plot.  I am working on a science fiction novel called Monument these days, which involves two architects of the future and how their efforts to build a legacy project (in this story of the future, architects can build whole worlds) conflict with each other.  There are people violently opposed to their work.  I could just tell you what these opponents do but, in most cases, I’ve elected to show you what they do to oppose these architects.
    
   You show scenes when you really want to capture the reader’s immediate attention.  Remember, readers read your story to be entertained and to identify and live vicariously through your characters.
    
2. When to tell
    
   You tell, which means narrate, if by showing a scene that’s not critical to the story line, the story seems in danger of bogging down in details.  Storytelling is about pace and timing as much as character and setting.  You can’t show everything and you shouldn’t.
    
   You tell when what is happening isn’t that relevant to the main story line but needs to be included for continuity or clarity.  It’s like when movies of old used flashing newspaper headlines or spinning clocks to give the viewer the impression of passing time…kind of the cinematic equivalent of literary ‘telling.’  Or the filmmaker may use voice-over narration to achieve the same thing.
    
   You show when you need to advance the story’s internal clock by a significant period of time (see above).
    
   In many of my novels, I tell and speed up the timeline of the story by using ‘news reports’ from reporters of a fictitious news organization called SolNet.  The reporters interview key people or just report to you, the reader, what has been happening.  By doing this, I can telescope time and advance the story without having to dramatize or show every little detail.
    
3. You can mix both showing and telling

You could do what many storytellers do by showing a little and telling a little.  This kind of variety is good in that keeps the reader interested in seeing what happens next.  It also allows the author, as narrator, to insert commentary and shape reader reactions directly.

 

In general, it is better to show rather than tell, but in this post, I wanted to make the case that there is room for both and provide reasons for when to use each one.  Both have a role to play in telling a story.  The real choice to be made is when you decide what moves the story along best.  The needs of the story should drive every decision you make. 

The next post to The Word Shed comes on April 20.  Have a happy Easter and we’ll see you then.

Phil B.