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That one writing prompt my English teacher swore by back in 2012

Mr. Henderson told our whole class that the "show don't tell" rule was the only way to write good fiction. I spent like 4 years forcing every description through that lens until a beta reader in my online group pointed out that some moments actually need a blunt statement to hit hard. She showed me one of my stories where I described a character's grief through weather patterns and she said just saying "he was heartbroken" would have worked better. Anyone else had a teacher or mentor give advice that only helped part of the time?

2 comments

2 Comments

carr.brooke1mo agoMost Upvoted

Actually "show don't tell" works best when you do a mix of both styles throughout your story.

kimreed1mo ago

Honestly, I read this piece online once that said "show don't tell" works great for action scenes but falls apart for emotions. The writer argued that sometimes you just need to state how a character feels so the reader can move on with the story. Sounds like you found that out the hard way with your weather description thing.