International Review of Books Magazine - Summer 2022

Page 118

Show, Don’t Tell By Rob Samborn

“Show, don’t tell.” Writers hear the phrase all the time. But what exactly does it mean? How do writers “show” through words? It’s not an unwritten rule, but rather an axiom that can help writers elevate their craft. I’ve heard writers say “show, don’t tell” is nonsensical, since you can’t possibly show something by writing about it. Not only can

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it be done, doing so invariably improves writing. On the face of it, as the late, great Sol Stein wrote in the writing classic Stein on Writing: Telling is conveying information. Showing is evoking emotion. An easy example of showing vs. telling is describing the weather.

Telling:

Jack felt it was hot.


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