SDT

Show, Don’t Tell

Handout

Exercise 1—Show us this same scene through dialogue:

I asked if I could go outside to play, and my mom said that I could after I did my homework and cleaned my room. But then she changed her mind because my brother had to go to soccer practice, even though he hates it.

When is there a place for telling?

	As a transition to get from one scene to another quickly
	When you need to get across some unimportant information to show passage of time
	In a fairy tale style of narrative: “Once upon a time, there was…”
	In a prologue to set the stage and impart some necessary information
	In a memoir
	When using a narrator

How can you improve the telling part?

	Add small concrete details that make it more immediate. (The Silent Boy, p. 150)
	Use dialogue and action when possible.
	Make it conversational.

Typical signs of telling:

	Use of words such as, I feel, he felt, she was… (Hint: Do a search to find all the “felts” or “feels” in your manuscript and go back to change them.)
	Overuse of adverbs
	Long expository paragraphs
	Use of an omniscient narrator

Ways to avoid telling:

	Use strong action verbs.
	Use specific nouns.
	Show through action, dialogue, and interaction.
	Immerse yourself in the character’s thoughts, actions, and interactions.
	Include sensory images.
	Trust your reader to understand what you mean.
	Avoid taglines, such as “he said, vehemently.”

What other ways can you think of?