Firstly, 'show don't tell' is not a 'rule' to be adamantly adhered to. It is a style of exposition that engages the reader. If you 'tell' the reader information they have nothing to do but listen - they'll get bored and switch off. By showing the reader activity their brain is constantly engaged in making calculations and drawing conclusions.

"Bob was tired." - this is telling.

"Bob's eyelids grew heavy." - this is showing. The reader is required to calculate the reason for Bob's predicament. We'll assume he's tired but there's also the possibility that his wife put arsenic in the pie.

On the face of it "Show don't tell" can only apply to scenes. As complex or extended internal thoughts cannot be shown, strictly adhering to the style would forbid them.

"Show don't tell" does not simply apply to character actions. Films and plays cannot tell, only show. Any exposition that requires a voice-over or an on-screen superimposition would be telling. Taken to the extreme: "1 month later, 3 months later" is telling.

To show: Opening line of CHAPTER FOUR. "The new month has barely begun yet Christmas lights decorate the windows of the flat opposite Jackie’s."

Opening line of CHAPTER FIVE. "The trees are bare now. The mid-morning sun barely makes it above the horizon in the cloudless winter sky."

Opening line of CHAPTER SIX. "After the dawn chorus, an urban fox takes the shortcut home through the shrubs between the flats, causing the leaves to rustle. The pigeons take flight. A grey squirrel scurries up a fence and leaps onto the garage roofs. The trees are in bloom."

"Show don't tell" is an instruction given to new writers. Following the advice cures many symptoms of unrelated problems. New writers want to tell their stories when really they should not be in it. They just get in the way.

Although you're bursting to tell your reader that Bella's pregnant - resist! Better to let Bella call her mother and tell her. That way the reader hears it straight from the horse's mouth.

ETA

Once you fully master the concept of 'Show don't tell' the scope of your writing will improve no end. e.g. There is an unwritten rule (particularly relevant to thrillers) - "the narrator cannot lie".

If you TELL the reader information - that information is taken as FACT. If you SHOW the reader information and conclusion derived from that information is the reader's responsibility.

e.g. If I tell the reader that Jason is laying in the dirt, his body's cold, and blood is trickling from his mouth. I have relayed a set of observed FACTS. The reader will likely conclude that Jason's dead (but that not what I said). I am at liberty to bring him back to murder everybody at the end of story.

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