Anyone who has ever looked up any writing advice must have heard or read the widely spread saying "show, don't tell". It is everywhere and yet, somehow, is one of the most overlooked points in novels. I know there are thousands of articles on this topic, but I feel like it is an important matter to discuss.

In writing, there are some fundamental objectives for authors to absorb. One of them is that the piece of writing should make the reader feel as if they were living the story first-hand. In movies, it is a lot easier. They have almost all the senses covered (except taste and smell). In writing, doing so is way harder. It is a written description. They are just words. And those words have to create a complete picture in your head, including not only sight but also the other senses. That is where most authors struggle.

Sometimes, when going through your first draft, you will feel that some of the scenes are flat, that your writing doesn't draw the reader into the story. Many things might make a scene flat, and one of those is telling instead of showing. Telling makes the story sound foreign. Here are some pieces of advice that could help to overcome this obstacle.

One of the things to bear in mind is to avoid overusing the word "feel". You can use this word with moderation. I am not suggesting you erase it from your work. However, there is a risk of making your piece of writing sound artificial. It even makes it look as if it was the kind of story you would submit in eighth grade as an assignment. Substituting the said word with something else can make a paragraph sound a lot more professional. Let's see it with an example:

"She felt like she was going to pass out."

"The floor seemed to sway under her feet, and everything around her became blurry."

Maybe it is just me, but there is an enormous difference between the two. The first one feels as if someone is telling you something that has occurred. In the second one, however, you can almost feel the floor in your room sway. It makes you part of the story. It grants you an opportunity to live the story along with the character.

Strong adjectives and verbs can help a lot but should be accompanied by a bit of description. For instance, if a character is extremely hungry, you could say "She devoured the meal he had placed in front of her." Devoured is a strong verb and therefore, would give strength to your paragraph. But it could be even better. Try "She devoured the meal he had placed in front of her and didn't stop until the plate shone. While watching her eat, he would have sworn she wasn't breathing and feared she would pass out." In the second one, you can almost feel her urge, and I find myself holding my breath.

The importance of showing instead of telling is especially significant for emotions. This allows for creating an emotional bond with the characters. It helps to empathize with them, growing closer to them. Again, it is easier to show it in an example:

"He was sad."

"His lip trembled, and he felt the warmth of tears running down his face."

In the first one, it is hard to empathize with him. The second one, though, fills me with a strong urge to get inside the book and hug him.

Having said this, you have to be careful. There is a thin line between showing and boring the reader. Let's imagine that instead of "The floor seemed to sway under her feet, and everything around her became blurry" you wrote the following:

"The floor seemed to sway under her feet. The walls of the room were waving in front of her eyes. There was not a single thing that remained still around her. The world wouldn't stop spinning. Everything around her became blurry. Figures mixed, and she couldn't tear them apart. She was finding it hard to stay standing. To be fair, she wasn't even sure she was still standing."

If I were reading this, I would be begging for her to faint. At least that way, the description would be over. If you exceed in showing it gets tedious and boring. It produces a rebound effect, and the reader gets detached from the story. This is why the description shouldn't last more than three sentences. You should also add action, dialogue, and, yes, a bit of telling to speed it up.

"Show, don't tell" is a piece of overused advice, but there is a reason why it is the first advice you get. It can make the difference between a flat scene and suddenly being inside the story. But use it with caution. You don't want to bore anyone into leaving the book unread. I'm sure that following this advice helps you be one step closer to writing the next masterpiece.