Travis W. King
1 min readJul 20, 2022

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This isn't how I interrpret "show don't tell" when it comes to writing advice... I think of it as actually including more description... just not telling the reader what you hope that description conjures for them.

For example, if you're trying to create a scary villan... saying "he was very scary" is far worse writing then using a few sentences to describe his "menacing smile... the scar down his cheek... the limp in his walk..." or whatever details you want to pull out... that SHOWS the reader "this guys is fuggin' scary" without telling them "this bad guys is scary!"

So, i don't think "show don't tell" means take out description... to me its about choosing the right descrition to let the reader come to their own conclusions without telling the reader what you hope those conclusions are.

It's like a bad joke... if you have to explain what the joke meant, you didn't tell it correctly (or maybe its just not funny). If you have to tell the reader what you hope they understand about a character, setting, interaction, etc.—you didn't write it correctly.

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Travis W. King
Travis W. King

Written by Travis W. King

Traveling, writing, & working abroad for 10 years. Former Remote Year Dir. of Community. Check out my travel memoir—Not That Anyone Asked—at www.traviswking.com

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