Show Don't Tell: 10 Examples That Bring Your Writing to Life

"Show, don't tell." It is perhaps the most ubiquitous piece of writing advice given to aspiring authors. It is also frequently misunderstood.

Some writers take it as law, fearing that any direct statement or summary will ruin their manuscript. Others dismiss it entirely, frustrated by its vagueness. The truth, as with most craft elements, lies in the balance. "Showing" isn't about eliminating every instance of "telling." It's about choosing the right tool for the job.

Showing creates immersion; it invites the reader to step into the scene and experience it alongside the characters. Telling creates distance, which can be useful for transitions or summarizing distinct periods of time. But when you want your reader to feel, show.

In this guide, we will move beyond abstract definitions and look at ten concrete examples of how to transform "telling" into "showing" across different elements of your story.

What "Show Don't Tell" Actually Means

Before diving into the examples, it is helpful to clarify the difference. We dissect the difference in this article, but here's an overview:

Telling conveys information directly to the reader. It's efficient and factual. It leaves little room for interpretation.

Showing reveals information through action, dialogue, sensory details, or behavior. It forces the reader to deduce the emotion or intent, creating a deeper engagement with the text.

The Camera Test

A simple way to determine if you're showing or telling is the "Camera Test." Ask yourself: Could a film camera capture this moment?

If you are writing about a character’s internal thoughts ("She felt sad") or summarizing a trait ("He was a generous man"), a camera couldn't see it. That is often telling.

If you are describing physical actions ("She wiped a tear from her cheek") or behavior ("He tipped the server fifty percent"), a camera could record it. That's showing.

Example 1: Showing Emotion

Emotion is the first place writers usually rely on telling. It's easy to label a feeling, but labels rarely make the reader feel.

Telling:

Sarah's rent payments were past due and her car payments were behind schedule. She was nervous about the job interview. It needed to go well.

Showing:

Sarah’s heel tapped against the waiting room floor. She pulled her résumé from her bag for the third time, smoothed a crease that wasn’t there, and slid it back in. When the receptionist called her name, her folder slipped from her hands, scattering papers across the tile.

What Makes It Work

• Physical manifestations: The tapping heel and fidgeting hands signal anxiety without using the word.
• Repetitive behavior: Checking the résumé repeatedly shows insecurity.
• Loss of control: Dropping the papers escalates the tension.

By focusing on body language rather than emotion labels, you allow the reader to empathize with Sarah’s state of mind. They engage with the writing. They imagine the scene.

Example 2: Showing Character Personality

You can tell a reader a character is arrogant, or you can let the character’s actions prove it.

Telling:

Marcus didn't care what people thought of him. Every breath he took soothed with arrogance.

Showing:

Marcus cut the line at the coffee shop, tossed a twenty on the counter, and didn't wait for change. Cappuccino." He scrolled through his phone while the barista scrambled to make his drink, never once looking up.

What Makes It Work

• Interaction with others: How a character treats service workers is a prime indicator of personality.
• Dialogue: The curt, demanding command ("Cappucino") speaks volumes.
• Body language: Not looking up shows a complete lack of respect for others.

Example 3: Showing Relationship Dynamics

Relationships are defined by the space between characters; what they say, and often more importantly, what they don't say.

Telling:

Claire and Tom's marriage had grown distant. They rarely ate together, and when they did, they didn't speak. In fact, they barely communicated at all anymore. Work meetings, incessant scrolling, television, and...someone else...had come between them.

Showing:

Claire set Tom's plate on the table—chicken on the left, vegetables on the right, the way he liked it. He nodded, eyes still locked on the muted television. She sat across from him, cutting her food into smaller and smaller pieces. The scrape of her knife filled the silence. After ten minutes, Tom pushed back his chair. "Meeting tonight. Don't wait up." The door closed behind him before she could answer. She stared at his half-eaten dinner.

What Makes It Work

• Routine devoid of warmth: Claire knows his preferences, but the intimacy is gone.
• The sound of silence: The scraping knife emphasizes the lack of conversation.
• Physical distance: Tom leaves without a real goodbye; Claire’s reaction (staring at the dinner) shows her resignation.

Example 4: Showing Setting and Atmosphere

A generic description leaves the reader in a void. Specific sensory details build a world.

Telling:

The house was old, creepy, and abandoned. There were holes in the roof. It made her skin crawl with worry and fear.

Showing:

Wallpaper peeled from the walls in long, curling strips. Something skittered behind the baseboards—too large to be a mouse. The floorboards groaned under each step, and through a crack in the ceiling, she saw the darkening sky. A child's toy sat in the corner, faded and dust-covered, its mechanical eyes seemed to follow her movement.

What Makes It Work

• Sensory engagement: You can hear the floorboards and the skittering creature.
• Specifics of decay: The peeling wallpaper and cracked ceiling show age more effectively than the word "old."
• Unsettling details: The toy with the tracking eyes adds a specific element of dread.

Example 5: Showing Character Change

Character arcs are about transformation. Showing the "before" and "after" through action is far more powerful than summarizing the change.

Telling:

After the accident, James became more cautious and appreciative of life.

Showing:

Before: James wove through traffic at fifteen over the limit, one hand on the wheel, the other holding his phone. "I'll be there when I get there," he told his sister, hanging up mid-sentence.

After: James checked his mirrors twice before merging. At the yellow light, he stopped, earning a honk from the car behind him. He didn't care. He turned off the podcast and called his sister back. "Hey. Sorry I was short earlier. Everything okay?"

What Makes It Work

• Concrete behavioral shifts: Driving habits serve as a metaphor for his approach to life.
• Changed priorities: Stopping at a yellow light (safety) versus weaving through traffic (haste).
• Relational repair: The phone call demonstrates his newfound appreciation for his family.

Example 6: Showing Physical Appearance

Avoid the "mirror check" scene where a character lists their features. Instead, weave description into action.

Telling:

Detective Morrison stared into the mirror mid-shave. A weathered man in his fifties looked back. A man who looked like he'd seen too much.

Showing:

Detective Morrison's tie hung loose, coffee-stained and wrinkled. When he rubbed his face, his palm rasped against three days of stubble. He poured lukewarm coffee into a mug that read "World's Best Dad" in faded letters and didn't bother with sugar anymore.

What Makes It Work

• Environmental storytelling: The state of his clothes and desk reveals his mental state.
• Action: Rubbing the stubble gives us a tactile sense of his weariness.
• Inference: The reader deduces his age through the "World's Best Dad" mug.

Example 7: Showing Internal Conflict

Internal conflict is difficult to show because it happens inside the mind. The key is to externalize the struggle through hesitation and physical objects.

Telling:

Anna wanted to tell her mother the truth, but she was afraid it would hurt her.

Showing:

"How was school?" her mother asked, setting down a plate of cookies.

Anna opened her mouth. Closed it. The acceptance letter crinkled in her backpack—University of Toronto, three thousand kilometers away. Her mother hummed while she poured milk, the same song she'd sung when Anna was little.

"Fine," Anna said. She bit into a cookie she didn't want. "School was fine."

What Makes It Work

• Physical hesitation: Opening and closing her mouth shows the urge to speak battling the fear.
• Symbolic objects: The acceptance letter represents the truth; the cookies and humming represent the comfort she is afraid to shatter.
• The lie: Her final dialogue confirms the choice she made, showing her fear won.

Example 8: Showing Time Passage

You don't always need a dateline to show time passing. The evolution of the environment can do the work for you.

Telling:

Over the next few months, winter turned to spring, and the town began to recover from the flood.

Showing:

In January, sandbags still lined Main Street, brown water stains creeping up storefronts. By February, Leo's Diner had reopened, though only three tables were salvageable. March brought the first window displays downtown. By April, the high school baseball team played their opening game on the newly re-sodded field, and someone had planted tulips where the worst of the damage had been.

What Makes It Work

• Markers of progress: We see the transition from sandbags to tulips.
• Named locations: Leo's Diner gives the town specificity.
• Emotional arc: The town moves from survival mode to resumption of normal life (baseball).

Example 9: Showing Power Dynamics

Power isn't just about titles or who's loudest; it's about who controls the space and the time.

Telling:

The CEO intimidated everyone in the meeting and made it clear he was in charge. She banged her fists on the table, wagged her fingers, with spittle dripping from her mouth. Everyone was scared to be at the other end of that finger.

Showing:

The CEO entered the conference room. Everyone straightened in their seats. She didn't sit. She stood at the head of the table, checking her watch. When James started his presentation, she held up one finger. He stopped mid-sentence. She answered a text, then gestured for him to continue. Twenty seconds later, she interrupted. "Give me a summary. What are we up?" James glanced at his thirty-slide deck. "Eighteen percent over two years." She nodded, then left. The meeting that had been scheduled for an hour ended in twelve minutes.

What Makes It Work

• Spatial control: Standing while others sit commands attention.
• Interruption: She controls when others speak.
• Brevity: Reducing a 30-slide deck to one number demonstrates her dominance over their work.

Example 10: Showing Stakes and Danger

Telling us a situation is dangerous is rarely as effective as showing the countdown.

Telling:

Time was of the essence. No one needed reminding of how dangerous the situation was. One mistake and they would all be dead.

Showing:

The timer read 00:47. Red numbers counting down. Sweat dripped into Elena's eyes as she stripped the wire. Blue or red, the manual said blue, but this model was different, she'd seen the modification report, or had she? 00:32. Her hand shook. The plaza outside was filling with the lunch crowd; hundreds of people who didn't know.

What Makes It Work

• Real-time constraints: The countdown anchors the tension.
• Physical symptoms: Sweat and shaking hands ground the danger in the body.
• Concrete stakes: The "lunch crowd" reminds us of the innocent lives at risk.

Key Principles Across All Examples

If we analyze these examples, three core principles emerge that you can apply to your own writing.

1. Use Specific, Concrete Details: Generalizations kill engagement. Don't say "nervous"; say "tapping heel." Don't say "old house"; say "peeling wallpaper."
2. Engage Multiple Senses: Writing is often too visual. Incorporate sound (the scraping knife), texture (the stubble), and physical sensation (the sweat) to create a sensory experience.
3. Trust Your Reader: This is the most important lesson. You don't need to explain that Marcus is arrogant or that Claire is resigned. If you show the behavior clearly, the reader will understand. And what's more, they'll like a detective piecing together the clues you're dropping.

Common "Show Don't Tell" Mistakes

Even with good intentions, writers can stumble. Here are a few traps to avoid:

• Over-showing: Not every moment needs this treatment. If a character is just walking from the kitchen to the living room, just say that. Save the deep showing for emotional beats and major plot points.
• Filtering: Avoid words like "saw," "heard," or "felt." Instead of "She saw the man enter," simply write "The man entered." This removes the filter between the reader and the action.
• Explaining after Showing: If you write a great scene where Sarah is fidgeting and dropping papers, don't end the paragraph with, "She was very nervous." You've already done the work; trust it.

It's easy to state these rules. It's harder to implement them in your own writing. Tools like Inkshift can help writers identify passages that are too on-the-nose, find overused descriptions, and improve their writing and prose.

Conclusion

"Show, don't tell" is not about eliminating exposition; it is about intentionality. It is about knowing when to summarize a journey and when to let the reader feel the gravel in their boots.

When you master this balance, your characters stop being descriptions on a page and start feeling like living, breathing people. Your settings stop being backdrops and become environments.

As you edit your draft, look for the moments where you have labeled an emotion or summarized a conflict. Can you convert those into action? Can you let the reader interpret the scene for themselves?