Yes, you read the title right. And you may look as shocked as the woman in the photo. There are times in a story when you have to tell, don’t show. The reverse of the time-honored technique of “show, don’t tell” can be appropriate in certain situations involving plot.
When You Don’t Want to Repeat Information
If my deputy interviews a suspect and then informs his sheriff, I don’t have to repeat the entire conversation. I can just state the obvious.
The sheriff scooted back in his swivel chair. “Did you finally get a hold of Old Man Thompson?”
I repeated what Mr. Thompson had said about the crime. “But he stumbled around his words. I think he’s hiding something.”
Or I can add a little information, such as:
Mom said, “So what happened in school today?”
Sighing, I took a seat at the kitchen table and told her about the whole miserable mess, only leaving out what Ava said to me.
Repeating information that readers have already read is not helpful, unless you need characters to discuss or think about a specific point.
When You Need to Compress Time
I use this one a lot in my mysteries because the case unfolds over several weeks. If the investigation has stalled, I don’t need to “show” every attempt the cops make at solving the crime. I can compress their investigation into a sentence, like this:
After a week, Sheriff Malinowski was no closer to finding the killer than when he had walked onto the crime scene.
The point of my “tell” is jump ahead in the story’s timeline, and I can do that in one sentence, keeping the story moving.
When You Have to Mention a Plot Point for Realism
I often want to convey to readers that the mystery my main character is confronting is a very hard nut to crack. I can do that with a “tell” like this.
After a week, Sheriff Malinowski was no closer to finding the killer than when he had walked onto the crime scene. No one had come forward with any new information, and researching the victim’s socials had yielded not one lead.
In one sentence, I can convey that there is no new information for readers without creating a lot of pointless dialogue or scenes. It also makes the mystery more realistic to tell that the police are struggling to solve it. Most likely, I will have a “show” scene first, in which a few officers talk about leads they’ve followed and that led them nowhere. Then I follow that with my “tell” sentence, demonstrating that the struggle continues.
I also use “tell” sections for realism concerning my main character’s family life. Rae Riley is part of a large extended family, who are critical to the series, but not all their actions affect the mystery in each book. But I want to give readers a sense of the family dynamic, so I might use a “tell” sentence like this:
After I helped Gram clean up the supper dishes, I helped Micah with his sight words and gave out Spanish vocab to Rusty. When Dad came home, I had to wait until he’d finished his late supper before I could ask him about the case.
The two sentences tell readers something about Rae’s family without getting bogged down in a lot of unnecessary detail.
Keep It Brief
“Tell” sections are always brief in current stories. You can’t get away with more than a paragraph or two. If you find yourself writing a whole page of “tell” information, you should review what you’ve written and see how you can create a “show” scene for most of it.
What are your thoughts on “show, don’t tell” and “tell, don’t show”?
This is very helpful!