: Re: Why are writers so hung up on "show versus tell"? I write primarily science, which I readily admit can be very bland. On occasion I read fiction, but have found over the years that my tastes

@Phylliss352

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The crux of the matter is that when people read something - especially fiction - they are constructing in their minds a small world in which the story takes place and they are, to some degree, placing themselves in that world.

When you interact with the real world, there's almost never a narrator explaining it to you (unless you're on a tour bus). You see things and actions and they elicit feelings and opinions from past experiences - in you.

A work of fiction needs to work the same way to engage the reader and tap into all their past experience by letting them "parse", analyse, and experience the data themselves and then feel whatever that brings up in them - as if they are there witnessing real events and responding to them.

Just telling them skips almost all of that. Then, they're just reading your opinion of what the story means. They're interfacing with your mind, not with the story itself.

Of course, sometimes things do need to be explained, so there will always be a place for "tell". It's just not usually the place where the action and feelings are.

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