WRFH/Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM - Grammar Minute: Show, Don't Tell

Episode Date: February 2, 2025

This common writing tip is surprisingly difficult to follow. Learn more on today's episode of Grammar Minute!

Welcome to the Grammar Minute, where we're saving the English language 60 seconds at a time. I'm Lauren Smith, and you've probably heard the writing advice, show, don't tell. But what does this 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're 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. This trick is 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. If you see a lot of these, chances are you're telling. That's your Grammar Minute.

Visit Thegrammerminant.com for more tips and tricks.