Show, don't tell: the five-minute fix

“Show, don't tell” means letting the reader work out what a character feels instead of announcing it. Compare:

Telling: Sam was nervous before the interview.

Showing: Sam read the same line of his notes four times. When the receptionist called his name, his chair scraped so loudly that everyone looked up.

The second version makes the reader do a tiny bit of detective work, and that makes them feel involved.

Three moves that always work

• The body: what happens to breathing, hands, voice, stomach?
• An action: what does the character do because of the feeling?
• The surroundings: what does the character notice? A nervous person notices the clock.

When telling is fine

You don't have to show everything. “Three weeks passed” is perfect for moving quickly through time. Save showing for the moments that matter most.

Try it: rewrite “The team was happy when they won” using all three moves. Then grab our “Show the Feeling” phrase bank from the Worksheets tab.