Showing vs. Telling

What separates many writers is the ability to recognize when to utilize which technique. A suggestion is to always write the scene in a Show format, knowing that you can always change to the Tell medium if you wish to provide readers with a chance to catch their breath.

The last statement should also explain the main flaw with Telling, as it can very often retard the pace of the scene.

Telling the Action

Jack was having a tough time with life. Everything he was doing lately had seemed to turn out wrong. Even the simplest aspects of his daily activities had begun to take their toll. Look at what happened when he got out of bed in the morning. He had stumbled around, as if in a blue funk. He’d been hurt when he’d fallen against his dresser and pulled it over while he was trying to right himself. He didn’t care who might have heard him throwing the unit against the wall or the damage it might have caused. And after he made his way into the bathroom and began to prepare himself for another day, he wasn’t sure if it was worth it.

Showing the Action

Like life itself, Jack could not find his balance. He fell against the chest of drawers and caught himself before stumbling backward and pulling the unit with him. A drawer flew
open and hit him in the side, and he and it collapsed onto the bed like two clumsy lovers.
He threw off the drawer and let it bang hard against the wall, cracking the plaster, unconcerned that the noise and vibration might have startled the newborn child in the apartment below. He weaved his way to the bathroom, and as he stared in the mirror and ran the water, not caring if it was hot or cold, he took out his razor. He didn’t lather his face, but kept glaring at what he saw–and wondered.

Not that these are spectacular examples, but they do identify the difference between Telling and Showing. Which would you rather read?

Robert L. Bacon
robertlbacon@aol.com

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