Show Not Tell

1. Show Not Tell “Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass,”—Anton Checkhov

2. Telling: Joe was a miser. Showing through example: Very little changed, though Joe got a big raise at work. His small apartment remained sparsely furnished with secondhand relics from garage sales. He walked to work in any kind of weather to avoid paying a bus fare, and he wore the same tattered shoes, until they were falling off of his feet. To go to lunch with him was an embarrassment, he would eat all of his food, then complain to the waitress about his meal, just so he could get it for free!

3. Assignment Choose two of the following sentences and rewrite it to “Show, Not Tell” in one paragraph: • Andre was the coolest kid in school. • Charlotte was very kind. • Caitlin was a wild child. • Kelly was a mean girl. • Cole was a troublemaker. • Sophia was a gossip. • Ella was a snob.

4. Revise • Highlight telling statements in your Writer’s Block. • Revise so that you no longer have telling statements in your writing.