Show, Don't Tell
Telling names a feeling; showing proves it with a detail the reader can see. I was nervous tells. The hands that will not stay still show.
The Writer's Workshop, where the Mayor reads finished writing himself, returns soon.
The Mayor calls show-don't-tell the whole job: do not name the feeling, spend every tool you have, your specific nouns and your strong verbs and the senses, to show it.
The full Writing Company lesson cycle is coming.
I was nervous.
I checked the recipe three times and wiped my hands on my jeans.
The left sentence tells you the feeling and stops. The right one never says nervous, yet you feel it. The Mayor shows it by spending the tools at once: the strong verbs checked and wiped (Vinny) and the specific nouns recipe and jeans (Nelson), no adjective required. Showing is the comprehensive move, not one part of speech.
- Find the named feeling (nervous, happy, scared, proud).
- Ask: what would someone feeling that actually do, say, or notice?
- Replace the feeling word by spending your tools: a strong verb, a specific noun, a detail the reader can sense. Let the reader name the feeling.
Play it in the Arcade.
Take the craft move onto the floor with the live game. Free, and it plays daily.
Spin a hero, a shape, and a world into a story idea, make the words come alive, then write your story and keep it.
Play Spin a Yarn →The kitchen smelled good.
The smell of burning butter drifted across the kitchen.
Smelled good is a label. Burning butter drifted puts the reader in the room, spending every tool at once: the adjective burning (Jake), the noun butter (Nelson), and the verb drifted (Vinny). That is what showing looks like.
Show, Don't Tell is the Mayor's because it spends every tool at once: Nelson's specific nouns, Vinny's strong verbs, and Jake's eye for detail.
A real writing skill, Grades 1 through 8.
Show, Don't Tell is one of the nine Writing Company chapters, where Grammaropolis teaches writing and composition. It maps to a Common Core writing strand; the per-grade, per-framework alignment fills in as the workbook line and the lesson cycle come online.
The Writer's Workshop, where the Mayor reads finished writing himself, returns soon.
Show, Don't Tell serves CCSS W.x.3.D and W.x.3.B (descriptive details and technique) and L.x.5 (word nuance).
Other Writing Company chapters.
Back to the Writing Company → The Writing Company workbooks → Try Wonderful Words →
The Writer's Workshop, where the Mayor reads finished writing himself, returns soon.
Ready to write?
Play the live game to practice the move. The Writer's Workshop, where the Mayor reads a finished piece himself and certifies it Gold, Silver, or Bronze, returns soon. The full Writing Company lesson cycle is coming.