You’ve probably heard it before, but I want to share a recent reminder of how important it is to, “Show. Don’t Tell!”
This past weekend my husband and I watched the miniseries that began the first season of “Battlestar Galactica.” A number of our friends enjoy the show and as science fiction fans, we decided we should give such a popular show a chance. But the miniseries came very close to losing us. In the beginning, the enemies attack many human colony worlds with nuclear devices that kill countless millions. We see the explosions from space and hear about the disaster through radio communications, but we never get an up-close look at the disasters. We never see the people just before the first explosion hits or the mass hysteria after. We are kept at a distance and I can honestly say I have never been so bored watching millions of people die.
The miniseries did (just barely) manage to pique our interest at the end and we put the show on probation as we watched the next few episodes (which were also good, and we now plan to watch the show) but it got me thinking about the old writer’s advice that you hear so often that you might not even know what it means.
Showing means to put me in the middle of the action. It means that I want to see the details and really know what the characters are going through. I don’t want you to tell me that Susie is afraid. I want you to show Susie cowering in a bomb shelter with her mom, wondering if her father is dead, feeling the earth shake with multiple violent explosions. Show me that and you don’t have to tell me Susie is afraid — I’m afraid for her.
Tell means summarizing events or emotions, stating rather than evoking. It has its place in writing. We don’t usually need to follow characters around through every second of their day. They can usually use the toilet in private. They can fall asleep and wake up the next morning. At that point you can tell us that they fell asleep quickly or slept poorly.
I think telling is very good for tying together necessary gaps in the passage of time.
But what “Battlestar Galactica” did wrong, in my opinion, goes to the heart of what we mean by the old advice. When something is happening, make it happen. Make us live it with your characters. Get into the details, even if they hurt….no, especially if they hurt.