Is it True That “show, don’t tell” is a Rule Against Telling?

The “show, don’t tell trap” - when writers follow this writing rule too rigidly.

Every writer has heard “show, don’t tell” so often it’s lost meaning. So let me tell you what it actually looks like on the page, because I promise it’s not what most people think.

It doesn’t mean cutting every instance of “she was sad” and replacing it with three paragraphs of trembling hands and rain against the windows. Some fiction manuscripts overcorrect so hard in this direction that one can barely find the plot beneath all the atmosphere.

Showing means trusting your reader with detail and letting them do a little of the work. Allow your readers to make inferences through action, dialogue, and sensory experience.

Telling means doing all the work for them, all the time, just in case they’re not paying attention. For example, when the narrator states facts and emotions directly.

You don’t pick one and abandon the other. The skill is knowing which moments deserve the slow, sensory treatment and which ones just need you to say the thing and move on. Your climax probably deserves showing. The fact that a week passed between scenes probably doesn’t.

Examples of “show, don’t tell” in Fiction

Telling: The house had been empty for years.

Showing: Dust covered the furniture and weeds pushed through the kitchen floor.

Telling: He was impatient.

Showing: He checked his watch again, then pressed the lift button three more times.

Telling: My mother hated wasting food.

Showing: On Sundays, my mother turned the week’s leftover vegetables into soup and scraped the last spoonful from every pot.

While “show, don’t tell” is one of the most common pieces of writing advice on the planet, it’s also the most misunderstood — especially in nonfiction.

There’s no need to drown a chapter in scene-setting and sensory detail just to prove you can write beautifully. Sometimes a writer is so busy trying to sound literary that the actual argument or insight gets buried.

Showing in nonfiction means giving your reader a concrete example, a real moment, or a specific case instead of just asserting a claim and expecting them to nod along. Telling means stating your point clearly and trusting the reader will take your word for it.

Telling keeps the pace moving, while showing everything slows it down. Most nonfiction manuscripts need both. The skill is knowing which claim needs an example and which is clear enough to state and move on. Your core argument most likely deserves a clear example, but the context leading up to it doesn’t need three.

Examples of “show, don’t tell” in Nonfiction

Telling: I was unprepared for my first public talk.

Showing: I reached the lectern, opened my notes and found I had printed only the first page.

Telling: Priya was nervous before her interview.

Showing: Priya’s palms were damp and she wiped them on her pants as she walked into the interview room.

Telling: Unclear instructions waste employees’ time.

Showing: A manager asked three employees to “sort out” a client complaint. Each thought someone else meant to reply. By the next morning, the client still had no answer.

A Rule Against Telling

The “show, don’t tell” rule sounds like a rule against telling, but it’s not. Fiction writing generally uses more showing, while nonfiction writing uses more telling.

Showing still matters in nonfiction: an example or concrete detail can help your readers understand and remember a point. And fiction needs telling to move past moments that don’t deserve a full scene.

Remember, you don’t always have to show. Sometimes all it takes is telling.

“Show, don’t tell” is a choice — the real skill is knowing which will serve your reader at that point.

When to use “show, don’t tell” for fiction and nonfiction.

Struggling to find the balance between what to show and what to tell? I'm happy to point you in the right direction.

Shamila Iyer

Author coach & Editor