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?