Show, Don't Tell

The Most Important Creative Writing Skill

If you learn only one thing from this entire course, make it this: show, don't tell. It is the single most powerful technique in creative writing, and it is the skill that separates average exam stories from outstanding ones.

"Show, don't tell" means that instead of telling the reader how a character feels or what something is like, you show them through actions, senses, dialogue, and detail. You let the reader work it out for themselves — and when they do, the writing feels ten times more powerful.

Why? Because when you tell someone "She was sad," they understand the information but feel nothing. When you show them — "She pressed her forehead against the cold window and watched the rain slide down the glass, each drop blurring the world outside until it looked as grey and formless as she felt" — they feel the sadness themselves.

graph LR
    A[Telling] -->|Transforms into| B[Showing]
    A -->|"She was sad"| C[Weak - Reader is informed]
    B -->|"Tears blurred her vision as she turned away"| D[Strong - Reader feels it]

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8 Before/After Pairs: Telling vs Showing

1. Fear

TELLING: She was scared.

SHOWING: Her hands trembled. She pressed herself flat against the wall, trying to make herself as small as possible, and held her breath until her lungs burned. Every shadow in the corridor seemed to move, and the silence — that awful, pressing silence — was worse than any sound could have been.

Techniques used: Body language (trembling hands), action (pressing against wall, holding breath), sensory detail (lungs burning), personification (shadows moving).

2. Anger

TELLING: He was really angry.

SHOWING: Jake slammed the door so hard the picture frames rattled on the wall. He paced the room in tight circles, jaw clenched, hands balling into fists at his sides. When he finally spoke, his voice was low and controlled — the kind of quiet that is far more frightening than shouting. "Don't," he said, "ever do that again."

Techniques used: Action (slamming door, pacing), body language (clenched jaw, fists), contrast (quiet voice instead of shouting — unexpected detail), dialogue.

3. Happiness

TELLING: She was very happy.

SHOWING: A grin spread across Priya's face — so wide it made her cheeks ache. She read the letter again, then once more, then pressed it against her chest and spun around in the middle of the kitchen. "Yes!" she shouted at the ceiling. "Yes, yes, YES!" The dog, startled, began barking and wagging its tail, and Priya scooped it up and danced with it across the kitchen tiles.

Techniques used: Body language (grin, aching cheeks), action (spinning, dancing), dialogue, detail (the dog's reaction).

4. Loneliness

TELLING: He felt lonely at his new school.

SHOWING: At lunchtime, Marcus sat at the end of the long table, the space around him empty while the rest of the canteen hummed with conversation and laughter. He ate his sandwich slowly, staring at his phone — not reading anything, just needing something to look at so he would not have to look at all the friendship happening around him. When the bell rang, he was the first one out of his seat. Nobody noticed.

Techniques used: Contrast (empty space vs busy canteen), action (staring at phone), inner thought (needing something to look at), short final sentence for impact.

5. Exhaustion

TELLING: She was exhausted after the race.

SHOWING: Mia crossed the finish line and her legs simply stopped working. She folded onto the grass, chest heaving, every muscle trembling. The sky spun slowly above her. She could taste metal at the back of her throat, and sweat stung her eyes, and somewhere far away the crowd was cheering but the sound seemed to come from underwater.

Techniques used: Action (legs stopping, folding onto grass), body language (heaving chest, trembling muscles), sensory detail (taste of metal, stinging sweat), distorted perception (sky spinning, underwater sound).

6. Boredom

TELLING: The lesson was boring.

SHOWING: Mr Henderson droned on about ox-bow lakes. The clock above the whiteboard seemed to have stopped — I was sure the minute hand had not moved for at least ten minutes. I drew a small spiral in the corner of my notebook. Then a bigger one. Then an entire galaxy of spirals. Outside, a bird landed on the windowsill, looked in at us, and flew away. Lucky bird.

Techniques used: Sensory detail (droning voice), exaggeration (clock seems stopped), action (drawing spirals), humour (the bird), inner thought.

7. Nervousness

TELLING: She was nervous before the performance.

SHOWING: Behind the curtain, Lily's stomach churned. She ran through the first line of her speech again — for the twentieth time — and the words tangled in her head like knotted string. Her palms were slick with sweat. She wiped them on her skirt, then wiped them again. Beyond the curtain, she could hear the audience settling into their seats, hundreds of people coughing and rustling and waiting for her to walk out there and — oh no. She had forgotten the first line again.

Techniques used: Body language (churning stomach, sweaty palms), simile (tangled like knotted string), sound (audience settling), inner thought (forgetting the line), action (wiping hands).

8. Guilt

TELLING: He felt guilty about what he had done.

SHOWING: Tom could not meet his mother's eyes. He studied the kitchen floor — the crack in the fourth tile, the crumb near the table leg, anything but her face. "Is there something you want to tell me?" she asked, and her voice was gentle, which was worse, so much worse than if she had shouted. He opened his mouth. The truth sat on his tongue like a stone, heavy and sharp-edged, and he could not make himself say it.

Techniques used: Action (avoiding eye contact, studying floor), specific detail (crack in tile, crumb), dialogue, simile (truth like a stone), contrast (gentle voice being worse than shouting).

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The Four Techniques for Showing

graph TD
    A["Show, Don't Tell Techniques"] --> B["1. Body Language"]
    A --> C["2. Sensory Detail"]
    A --> D["3. Action"]
    A --> E["4. Figurative Language"]
    B --> F["Trembling, clenching, blushing, fidgeting"]
    C --> G["What they see, hear, smell, feel, taste"]
    D --> H["What they DO — actions reveal feelings"]
    E --> I["Simile, metaphor, personification"]

1. Body Language

Our bodies react to our emotions, often without us choosing. Use these physical reactions to show how your character feels.

Emotion	Body Language
Fear	Trembling, pale face, wide eyes, frozen, dry mouth, racing heart
Anger	Clenched fists, tight jaw, pacing, red face, narrowed eyes
Happiness	Smiling, bright eyes, relaxed posture, laughing, jumping
Sadness	Slumped shoulders, lowered head, tears, slow movements
Nervousness	Fidgeting, biting lip, sweaty palms, avoiding eye contact
Surprise	Open mouth, raised eyebrows, stepping back, gasping
Guilt	Avoiding eye contact, hunched posture, flushing, stammering
Excitement	Bouncing, grinning, talking fast, eyes widening

2. Sensory Detail

Show the reader what the character is experiencing through their senses. When someone is scared, they notice every sound. When someone is happy, the world seems brighter.