Welcome to the Grammar Minute, where we’re saving the English language sixty seconds at a time! I’m Lauren Smyth, and you’ve probably heard the writing advice: Show, don’t tell. But what does this actually mean?
Firstly, this advice is for storytelling, not for business emails. By all means, tell instead of showing and be as direct as possible when that’s the point. But when you’re telling a story and you want your reader to picture what you’re saying, don’t just state what’s happening. “She was sad” is incredibly boring and uninspired. How does she look when she’s sad? How could we tell she’s sad if we were standing in front of her, inside the story ourselves? “Tears rimmed her eyes” shows the reader that she’s sad without having to state this explicitly. It’s more interesting, and it lets the reader form a detailed image of the scene in their mind, drawing them into the story.
This little trick is far easier said than done. A good way to tell whether you’re telling or showing is to see how often you use “to be” verbs, usually is, was, were, and are. If you see a lot of these throughout your story, chances are you’re telling more than you’re showing.
That’s your Grammar Minute! Visit thegrammarminute.com for more tips and tricks.