Show not tell

[John Dean]

There is a debate within writing circles about what has become known as ‘show and tell’.

No, this is not about small children excitedly showing manky things found on the beach to their classmates, rather an important writing technique.

The argument goes like this: for you to truly engage your reader, you must make them feel that they are there when the action is happening, rather than someone telling them about it later.

It matters because if you fail to draw your reader into the story, your tale will lack something, an immediacy, a sense of drama, a sense of narrative.

How do you do it? Think of it like this: reach out a hand to your reader and say ‘come into my world, walk alongside me.’ Do that and they are hooked.

Showing not telling is a lesson I have learned through experience and the advice of the excellent editors with whom I have worked down the years