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Understanding Show, Don't Tell: (And Really Getting It) Kindle Edition

by Janice Hardy (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.7 out of 5 stars 1,051 ratings
Do you struggle with show, don't tell? You don't have to.
Award-winning author Janice Hardy (and founder of the popular writing site, Fiction University) takes you deep into one of the most frustrating aspects of writing--showing, and not telling. She'll help you understand what show, don't tell means, teach you how to spot told prose in your writing, and reveal why common advice on how to fix it doesn't always work.
With in-depth analysis, Understanding Show, Don't Tell (And Really Getting It) looks at what affects told prose and when telling is the right thing to do. It also explores aspects of writing that aren’t technically telling, but are connected to told prose and can make prose feel told, such as infodumps, description, and backstory.
Her easy-to-understand examples will show you clear before and after text and demonstrate how telling words change the prose. You'll learn how to find the right balance between description, narrative, and internalization for the strongest impact. These examples will also demonstrate why showing the wrong details can sound just as dull as telling.
This book will help you:
  • Understand when to tell and when to show
  • Spot common red flag words often found in told prose
  • Learn why one single rule doesn't apply to all books
  • Determine how much telling is acceptable in your writing
  • Fix stale or flat prose holding your writing back
Understanding Show, Don't Tell (And Really Getting It) is more than just advice on what to do and what not to do—it’s a down and dirty examination and analysis of how show, don’t tell works, so you can adapt the “rules” to whatever style or genre you’re writing. By the end of this book, you’ll have a solid understanding of show, don’t tell and the ability to use it without fear or frustration.
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  1. Print length
    138 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    September 29, 2016
  4. File size
    885 KB
  5. Page Flip
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  6. Word Wise
    Enabled
  7. Enhanced typesetting
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Janice Hardy is the award-winning author of the teen fantasy trilogy TheHealing Wars. Her novels include "The Shifter," "Blue Fire,"and"Darkfall" from Balzer+Bray/Harper Collins. "The Shifter,"was chosenfor the 2014 list of "Ten Books All Young Georgians Should Read" from the Georgia Center for the Book. It was also shortlisted for the Waterstones Children's Book Prize (2011), and The Truman Award (2011).
 
Janice is also the founder of Fiction University, a site dedicated to helpingwriters improve their craft. Her popular Foundations of Fiction seriesincludes "Plotting Your Novel: Ideas and Structure," a self-guidedworkshop for plotting a novel, the companion "Plotting Your NovelWorkbook," and the  Revising Your Novel: First Draft toFinished Draft series. Her Skill Builders series includes "UnderstandingShow,Don't Tell (And Really Getting It)," and "Understanding Conflict(And What It Really Means)," focusing on common problem areas forwriters.
 
As J.T. Hardy, she writes fantasy and science fiction for adults. The first book in her Grace Harper series is "Blood Ties."
 
Janice loves talking with writers and encourages questions of all types - eventhe weird ones. She lives in Central Florida with her husband, two cats,one yard zombie, and a very nervous freshwater eel. You can visit heronline at JaniceHardy.com or chat with her about writing atFiction-University.com.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B01M0BE4UP
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ (September 29, 2016)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 29, 2016
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 885 KB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 138 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 out of 5 stars 1,051 ratings

About the author

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Janice Hardy

Janice Hardy

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Janice Hardy is the award-winning author and founder of the popular writing site Fiction University, where she helps writers improve their craft and navigate the crazy world of publishing. Her blog has been recognized as a Top Writing Blog by both Writer’s Digest and The Write Life.

Janice also teaches writing workshops across the country, and has written multiple books on writing, including her bestselling Understanding Show, Don't Tell (And Really Getting It), Understanding Conflict (And What It Really Means), Plotting Your Novel: Ideas and Structure, and the Revising Your Novel: First Draft to Finished Draft series.

When she’s not writing about writing, she spins tales of fantasy and adventure and does terrible things to her characters (which makes them much more interesting).

Her novels include the teen fantasy trilogy The Healing Wars (The Shifter, Blue Fire, and Darkfall) from Balzer+Bray/Harper Collins. The Shifter, was chosen for the 2014 list of "Ten Books All Young Georgians Should Read" from the Georgia Center for the Book. It was also shortlisted for the Waterstones Children's Book Prize, and The Truman Award.

For adults, she writes the Grace Harper urban fantasy series under the name, J.T. Hardy, and is currently working on a science fiction detective series (also for adults).

She loves talking with writers and readers, and encourages questions of all types—even the weird ones.

Find out more about writing at www.Fiction-University.com, or visit her author’s site at www.JaniceHardy.com. Subscribe to her newsletter to stay updated on future books, workshop, and events and receive her book, 25 Ways to Strengthen Your Writing Right Now.

Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
1,051 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find this writing guide easy to read and understand, providing clear examples of both showing and telling techniques. The book receives positive feedback for its helpful explanations and insight, with one customer noting how it delves into different levels of the technique. Customers appreciate its straightforward approach and value for money.

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137 customers mention "Ease of writing"124 positive13 negative

Customers find the book easy to read and understand, providing good examples of how to improve writing.

"...This is truly a valuable asset to help writers of all types (pantsers, plotters) go in with confidence...." Read more

"This is a well written book providing multiple examples to help a writer better understand the concept of show not tell...." Read more

"...for writers who self-publish their books, this is a must-have for us indie authors...." Read more

"...now have the correct ammo to load into your pen, pencil or computer keyboard to write better words, sentences, paragraphs, pages and books...." Read more

132 customers mention "Explanations"132 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the book's explanations, noting that it provides many helpful examples and breaks concepts down clearly.

"...I picked up this awesome gem of knowledge after glancing some reviews of how the author immediately had a reader engaged in deep POV on the first..." Read more

"...of text do or don't "show," for instance--but she presents the basics very well...." Read more

"This is a well written book providing multiple examples to help a writer better understand the concept of show not tell...." Read more

"Really helpful! I've watched lots of youtube videos and read many blogs, but this helped things sink in differently!" Read more

25 customers mention "Insight"25 positive0 negative

Customers find the book insightful, with one customer particularly appreciating how it explains deep point of view in an entertaining way.

"...I was immediately drawn and was able to see things mentally as if I were in that moment...." Read more

"...a passage being "told" can be converted into a more active, interesting, and energetic "show." Hooray for concrete examples!..." Read more

"...examples of ways to write sentences, paragraphs and chapters in ways that better engage readers...." Read more

"...Beta readers reported that, while the story seemed compelling, the writing was flat. “Show, don’t tell,” they said. I didn’t understand...." Read more

17 customers mention "Value for money"17 positive0 negative

Customers find the book worth the money.

"...This is truly a valuable asset to help writers of all types (pantsers, plotters) go in with confidence...." Read more

"...great at showing instead of telling, give it a read, it will be worth the few hours." Read more

"...I also bought the rest of the books in the series and they are well worth it." Read more

"...The value is unmistakable, I would have easily been willing to pay double for the information that is in here...." Read more

10 customers mention "Readability"10 positive0 negative

Customers find the book easy to read and appreciate that it gets straight to the point, with one customer noting that paying attention produces fantastic results.

"...a scene from the POV character's perspective so that the reader is more engaged and experiences the story alongside the character. Well worth it." Read more

"...It's short but concise, offering rules that work and examples that make sense. I love the target words to search for later. Very helpful." Read more

"The subject is almost dull... yet paying attention produces fantastic results. I had to try some of the exercises to become a believer, but I am." Read more

"This book explains how show don't tell really works. There's lots of examples and list of specific words to look out for...." Read more

7 customers mention "Ease of repair"7 positive0 negative

Customers find the book easy to understand and repair, with one customer noting it provides helpful deconstruction techniques and another mentioning it's quick to read.

"Concise and in depth. Most helpful to me was the deconstruction, at times of every word in a "tell" sentence verses a "show"...." Read more

"...This book is helping me so much as a beginner!..." Read more

"...trains the ear to recognize weaknesses in the writing, and teaches how to fix them. This one will sit on my desk as a trusted reference...." Read more

"...One of the best explanations of "show, don't tell" I've seen. Quick and deceptively easy to read for such a slippery subject to new writers...." Read more

Easy to read with well laid out examples
5 out of 5 stars
Easy to read with well laid out examples
This book does a fantastic job at explaining what a tell looks like, how to spot it, and most importantly, how to fix it in your writing. As I read this handy guide, I found myself thinking about places in my work in progress that mirrored some of the examples Janice Hardy gave, and I became excited to dig into edits! Who is ever excited about digging into edits!?! Editing is the worst! But now that I feel more confident, I can’t wait to get into it! So much so that I’m up way past my middle-aged mom bedtime to edit away! Wish me luck! May the agents come knocking at my door…. Er… or maybe may the agents request a full manuscript is more likely. At least I hope so! 🤞🏻
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Top reviews from the United States

  • Brandon Stephen
    5.0 out of 5 stars How to Understand the Utility of Show and Tell Prose
    Reviewed in the United States on August 12, 2020
    Verified Purchase
    Show vs. tell can be a topic that has people feeling stunted in finding better approaches, and this book will really show you the private conversations you'll be having as a writer to appreciate yourself and the mental models created, refined, and utilized for writing.

    I picked up this awesome gem of knowledge after glancing some reviews of how the author immediately had a reader engaged in deep POV on the first page in one of her novels.

    And since then, I've been highlighting, note taking, and bookmarking ever since reading this. I would capture tips and tricks with other how-to's and know to show more than just telling. But, I thought to myself on how can I possibly get out of that tell prose myself?

    And then Hardy mentioned something in the novel, something so obvious that I should've known, as to why we tend to tell at first to ourselves. It's just a subconscious habit we do so we can get that creativity flowing, which is good if we need that information immediately, but it is our due diligence as writers to GO BACK to that tell prose and convert it to a show prose.

    But just when I reached an epiphany with how Hardy articulates herself well with this, she also shows you the pros and cons, and when a tell prose can be of utility in whatever story you're making!

    Hardy knows her stuff, and really portrays the logic as to how some things can distance a reader vs. really having them engage in that deep, vicarious identification with characters.

    Even just the examples (I'm almost done reading with the book actually), I was immediately drawn and was able to see things mentally as if I were in that moment.

    She breaks down the show and tell prose at a sentence level, paragraph level, and other levels as well! This is truly a valuable asset to help writers of all types (pantsers, plotters) go in with confidence.

    Be sure to make notes and annotations, and mark all over when reading this! Another great mentor that has more in her Skillbuilder series.

    I also read a book on Emotinal Beats from another author before, and this book helps refine the utility out of that and becoming a better writer.

    My key takeaway is you will come to an understanding of when to consider utilizing show prose and even tell prose when the time is right. Everything has come full circle for me.

    I look forward to reading more from Hardy to add to my ever-expanding tool-kit.
    7 people found this helpful
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  • D.P. Hathaway
    5.0 out of 5 stars I MUST-HAVE FOR WRITERS
    Reviewed in the United States on March 10, 2025
    Verified Purchase
    This little book (110 pages) dives deep into the old writers' adage of "Show, Don't Tell." As a writer for more than forty years, it reinforced some of my past practices that were successful and uncovered some of the reasons for ones that failed. The author sometimes makes too deep an analysis--where whole paragraphs of text do or don't "show," for instance--but she presents the basics very well. I highly recommend it to newer authors; even veteran writers would do well to study it.
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  • Cat N
    4.0 out of 5 stars Helpful Book To Have
    Reviewed in the United States on January 18, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    This is a well written book providing multiple examples to help a writer better understand the concept of show not tell. Some of the information I already knew, but I also found new examples of how to identify showing versus telling. I also appreciate that Janice stressed making your best judgement call based on POV and genre of when to tell and when to show versus touting you should never, ever do this in xx circumstances. That buys her credibility in my eyes as writing is always subjective. I also have a better understanding as to why at times my writing feels flat in drafts and various methods to help correct those spots in addition to the tools editors I have worked with in the past have given me. If you struggle with show don't tell this is a good reference book to add to your writerly library.
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  • David H
    5.0 out of 5 stars This book will definitely up your writing
    Reviewed in the United States on February 28, 2025
    Verified Purchase
    At first I thought this very hard to read because is calls out things that you may struggle with and give scenarios to apply things in plus the narrative distances highly recommend to new authors.
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  • Forever in Blue Jeans
    5.0 out of 5 stars I. Love. This. Book!
    Reviewed in the United States on November 27, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    If you're a writer, I don't care if you are just starting out or you have several published books to your name, I recommend this to everyone at any stage of their writing journey. Show vs. tell is something I always wrestled with--aren't writers always telling, since we're using words on a page and can't literally show the reader something? It wasn't until I got involved in an online writing group and had my writing critiqued week after week, month after month, that one day, it all finally clicked. Oh! THAT'S what's meant by "show, don't tell." Got it! I've been off and running ever since.
    This book does for the writer what that critique group did for me. It walks us through the differences between what a "telling" paragraph looks like and what a "showing" paragraph looks like, and which circumstances call for using one over the other (because let's face it, we can't always "show"--our books would end up being 1000+ pages!).
    Because there are no longer any gatekeepers for writers who self-publish their books, this is a must-have for us indie authors. Too many writers publish too soon, and too many think they're showing when they're actually telling, and they could really improve their works by implementing the advice in this book. Plus, at this price, it's a win-win.
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  • Heather
    5.0 out of 5 stars Helpful book!
    Reviewed in the United States on February 2, 2025
    Verified Purchase
    Really helpful! I've watched lots of youtube videos and read many blogs, but this helped things sink in differently!
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • Kindle Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars Super helpful - a must read.
    Reviewed in Australia on September 22, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    This breaks down writing issues that can slow the story down, and while I was familiar with many of them, I have also learned a lot. One thing that I appreciate about this author is the acknowledgement that not every 'tell' word reflects a problem, every time, but that it's a flag to check whether you're slowing the story down or jolting the reader. I can honestly say that I think I'm a better writer for having read this book - I'm certainly more mindful about what is and is not appropriate or sensible for my story's point of view.
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  • Merce Roselló
    5.0 out of 5 stars Por fin, alguien lo explica con claridad
    Reviewed in Spain on October 8, 2020
    Verified Purchase
    Por fin he pillado esto del show don' t tell. Lo explica maravillosamente. Ojalá lo hubiera leído hace un par de años, me hubiera ahorrado varias revisiones de mi novela.
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  • Patricia Spencer
    5.0 out of 5 stars Deep analyses I've never seen elsewhere!
    Reviewed in Canada on March 30, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    I bought this book last night and immediately started applying it to the first draft of my new novel. Already, I can see that her lessons are going to sharpen up my writing! The author clearly spent a lot of time analyzing the Show-Don't-Tell issue and thus she discusses nuances I've never seen addressed elsewhere. She nails the subtleties. For example, what is the difference between 'I reached over to pick up the cup,' and 'I reached over and picked up the cup.' After you study this book you'll know.
    I like that she writes a brief passage then shows how different writing decisions affect the same passage. It makes the modifications readily apparent. This book is worth adding to your writer's resource bookshelf. Thank you, Janice Hardy!
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  • anonym
    5.0 out of 5 stars A book every author needs!
    Reviewed in Germany on December 21, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    This book significantly enhanced my writing skills. The author effectively illustrates what makes a story feel told rather than shown and provides concrete advice on how to address this issue. While revisiting your draft requires effort, the results are absolutely worth it!
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  • Jacob Collins
    5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant!
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 31, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    One of the main comments I always get about my writing is to "show don't tell," but no one would ever really give me a satisfactory explanation of what I was doing wrong. When I bought and downloaded this book I could finally see what everyone meant and my writing has come on in leaps and bounds. For anyone struggling with understanding the term show don't tell, and if you want to improve your writing, I highly recommend this book.
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