sage52•1mo ago

Overheard a writing teacher say 'show don't tell' is outdated advice and it got me thinking

I was at a coffee shop last week waiting for my order and this writing teacher was talking to a student about a prompt they were working on. She said the whole 'show don't tell' thing is actually pretty limiting for certain genres like horror or mystery where you sometimes need to just tell the reader what's happening to build tension fast. It kinda blew my mind because I've been treating that rule like it's carved in stone for years. I tried writing a creepy scene last night where I just flat out told the reader a shadow moved before the character noticed and it worked way better than my usual approach of describing every little thing. Has anyone else tried breaking this rule on purpose or found other creative writing tips that sound like they should be true but actually aren't?

2 comments

2 Comments

simonbell1mo ago

Oh man, that's a good point about horror and mystery. I've been trying to write a ghost story for a while and I kept getting stuck because I was showing every single creak and whisper, but the pacing was awful. Did that teacher give any examples of when telling is better than showing, like for setting up a character's backstory or something? I feel like there's a sweet spot where you can tell something quick to move the plot forward and then show the important emotional beats, but figuring out which is which is the tricky part.

irisw731mo ago

Yeah, @simonbell, that "sweet spot" thing is exactly what I struggle with too, I always show way too much and lose the pace.