3T Writing Tidbit - Show, Don't Tell - Without Losing Your Style

I've reached the end of a long day -- working 45 hour weeks and this is my one day off half of which I used to take the cats to the vet. In the other half, I've scheduled two years of 2T Repeat Performances and written four 3T Writing Tidbits, but I need to finish off 2026 for writing tidbits and I'm out of cards and ideas.

So I turned to Chat GPT. Bless you, AI, for giving a tired brain ideas and outlines.

Writers get told things like "show, don't tell." A good idea, but commands from on high, told so often they begin to sound like laws, become so set in stone that if you break them you're going to writerly jail and will be forced to use a 1986 word processor for the rest of your life.

Fortunately, not only is "show don't tell" not a law, sometimes telling is the shortcut your story needs. 

First, what are show and tell? 

• Show. The character experiences it, so the reader experiences it. The reader experiences it, she gets pulled into the story.
• Tell. The character or narrator relates it, so the reader hears about it instead of experiencing it.

Now, when do you use each?

• Show. This is the musical equivalent of an aria or solo. It's for the big emotional scenes. In stories it's also for action scenes where the stakes are high, or where the action resolves inner or outer goals or plot points.
• Tell. This is the dialog in a musical. Transitions, routines. You can also tell when the style of telling helps build character, for example punk rocker Nixie's inner monologue scoping sexy but uptight lawyer Julian "Hawt suit, lotsa skrilla, but daggy." (Hot establishment-guy, rich but unfashionable.)

So how do you show, don't tell, without losing your writing style?

Trick question! It's not showing or telling that's the point, it's using the best tool for keeping your reader immersed in your story. 

Also, while AI is great and getting better every day, you notice how the premise "without losing your style" (Chat GPT used "voice") isn't fulfilled except in the tell portion? 

Published since 2009, over the years I've accumulated various items of writing wisdom. The Third Tuesday Writing Tidbit showcases these items in no particular order. Click here to see all 3T Tidbits.