Writing a Narrative by Showing and Telling

There are two ways of writing a narrative. One is by showing and the other is by telling. It is how you combine these two methods of narrative writing that will ultimately determine your novel's success.

If you have spent any time studying the art and craft of novel writing, you will doubtless have come across this golden rule: Show, Don't Tell.

• What does it mean?
• Is it a good rule?
• How, precisely, do you show and tell?

While it is true that "show, don't tell" is a good rule of thumb when writing a narrative, it is only true for part of the time. Sometimes, "tell, don't show" is a much more useful maxim to follow.

This article is split into three parts:

• First, it looks at showing.
• Second, it looks at telling.
• Third, and most importantly, it looks at when to do each one.

Before getting down to business, let me first say that mastering the art of showing and telling in novel writing is critical to your success. (So don't skip this material!)

Understanding how to write a narrative through showing and telling - and knowing when to do each one - is the very essence of structuring a publishable narrative.

Writing a Narrative by Showing

Showing means writing fiction in such a way that the readers feel as though they are there - seeing the sights and hearing the sounds and experiencing the events for themselves...

• If the wind blows, they feel it on their skin.
• If the character is embarrassed, the readers blush with them.
• If a shot is fired, they flinch.

In short, writing a narrative by showing is all about involving the readers...

• If a writer tells the readers that a character is repellent, they only have the writer's word for it.

• If the writer shows them the character's pockmarked face and the smell of stale vomit on their breath, the readers are truly repelled (just like you are now).