SHOW don't TELL

Author Anton Chekov is quoted as stating, "Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass."  It's a common writing instruction: show don't tell.  Meaning, instead of filling a passage with exposition and explanation, a stronger story will be infused with vivid description, sense imagery, and actions.  In Stephen King's book, On Writing, he elaborates on this concept.

An example of show vs. tell can be seen below:

TELLING: Samantha felt stressed out about failing her  test.

SHOWING: A bright red F glared out from Samantha's paper, she swallowed the mound in her throat as the thump-thump of her heart exploded from her chest and she quickly stuffed the result of her failure into her backpack.

For today's exercise, let us practice using our senses specifically to describe a setting.  Close your eyes and imagine a room with which you are very familiar, or which hold particular significance for you.  Now, open your eyes and describe this space.   Tap into your senses and describe how the room looks and feels (pay attention to textures, specific details, colors, shapes, and the images that come to mind), how do items feel in your hands, what sounds do hear, which smells do you experience in this space, can you taste anything?  Let's practice writing description: show, don't tell.

As always, if you have a good writing session, share with me, I'd love to hear about your progress.  And in the meantime, write on!

Melissa Johnson