How to Master Show Don't Tell Technique for More Immersive Prose in 2026

You write "She was angry" and your critique partner circles it with red pen: "Show, don't tell!" You change it to "She was really, extremely angry" and wonder why that's not better. Or you overcompensate, turning every emotion into a paragraph of physical description until your prose feels like a medical examination.

Show don't tell is the most commonly taught and least understood principle in fiction writing. The advice itself is often tell-y: "Show emotions through action" doesn't help if you don't know what that looks like. And nobody explains the exceptions—when telling is actually more effective than showing.

This guide breaks down show don't tell into actionable techniques. You'll learn how to identify telling in your drafts, replace it with sensory language and physical action, master dialogue versus exposition balance, recognize exceptions where telling works better, practice with exercises that build muscle memory, and analyze before/after examples from published works that demonstrate the technique beautifully.

Identifying Telling in Your Drafts

Telling is explaining emotions, traits, or states directly. Showing is providing evidence that lets readers infer these things themselves.

Common Telling Patterns

1. Emotion Naming

TELLING: "Sarah was nervous about the presentation."

This labels the emotion but doesn't make us feel it. We're told how Sarah feels but we don't experience it.

SHOWING: "Sarah reviewed her slides for the third time, then a fourth. Her hands left damp prints on the printouts. When her name was called, she stood but her legs felt disconnected, mechanical."

We see nervous behavior—repeated checking, sweating, physical disconnect. We infer nervousness without being told.

2. Personality Stating

TELLING: "Marcus was arrogant and dismissed other people's opinions."

SHOWING: "'I think what you meant to say,' Marcus cut in before Elena finished, 'is that the data suggests...' He turned his back to her, addressing the room. 'As I was explaining earlier...'"

His interruption, correction, and dismissal show arrogance through behavior.

3. Relationship Summarizing

TELLING: "They had been best friends for years and trusted each other completely."

SHOWING: "Jake handed over his phone without asking what for. 'Password's the same,' he said, already back to his sandwich. They'd been through this dance before—Sarah investigating, Jake providing access to whatever she needed, no questions required."

Trust demonstrated through action (giving phone without hesitation, no questions asked).

4. Backstory Explaining

TELLING: "Her parents' divorce had left her with abandonment issues that affected all her relationships."

SHOWING: "When he said 'we should talk,' her stomach dropped. Those words always came before the end. She was already mentally packing his things, already planning how she'd seem fine, already deciding she'd seen this coming anyway."

Her catastrophic thinking and emotional preparation show the pattern without explaining its origin directly.

How to Find Telling in Your Work

Search your manuscript for these words:

• Emotion words: felt, seemed, appeared, looked (when followed by emotion adjectives)
• State-of-being verbs: was, were, had been, became
• Mental state words: thought, realized, understood, knew, remembered
• Character judgment: [character] was [adjective personality trait]

Not every instance is telling that needs fixing, but these patterns flag sentences to examine. Ask: "Am I explaining something readers could infer from behavior instead?"

Sensory Language Techniques

Showing uses the five senses to make readers experience rather than observe. Instead of reporting emotion, you describe its physical manifestation.

Visual Showing

What would a camera capture?

TELLING: "He was exhausted."

SHOWING: "Dark circles shadowed his eyes. His shirt, usually pressed, was wrinkled. He held his coffee with both hands like it might escape."

Physical details (circles under eyes, wrinkled shirt, coffee grip) show exhaustion.

Auditory Showing

What sounds are present? How do characters speak when feeling certain ways?

TELLING: "She was angry but trying to hide it."

SHOWING: "'Fine.' The word came out clipped, barely more than a breath. She turned on the faucet harder than necessary. Water hammered the metal sink."

Tone of voice (clipped) and environmental sound (hammering water) show restrained anger.

Tactile Showing

What physical sensations does the character experience?

TELLING: "She was nervous."

SHOWING: "Her palms slicked with sweat. The paper stuck to her fingers when she tried to turn the page. Her heart hammered against her ribs."

Physical sensations of nervousness: sweating, heart rate, trembling.

Olfactory Showing

Smell is strongly tied to memory and emotion. Use strategically.

TELLING: "The house reminded her of her childhood."

SHOWING: "The moment she opened the door, coffee and cinnamon hit her. Her mother's morning ritual. For a second, she was eight again, padding downstairs in too-big pajamas."

Specific smells trigger memory and transport character (and reader).

Taste Showing

Less common but powerful in the right moments.

TELLING: "Fear filled him."

SHOWING: "Copper flooded his mouth. He'd bitten his cheek without realizing. The metallic taste mixed with bile rising in his throat."

Physical response to fear shown through taste and sensation.

Dialogue vs. Exposition Balance

Dialogue is a powerful showing tool, but only when it feels natural. Exposition disguised as dialogue is still telling.

Dialogue That Shows

Good dialogue reveals character, relationship dynamics, and plot information through what people say and how they say it.

TELLING (through narrative): "Marcus didn't respect Elena's professional expertise and often dismissed her ideas in meetings."

SHOWING (through dialogue):
"'What Elena's trying to say—' Marcus began.
'I know what I'm trying to say.' Elena didn't look at him. 'What I'm saying is the data doesn't support your conclusion.'
'Sure, but if you look at it this way—'
'I've looked at it every way. The answer doesn't change because you want it to.'"

His interruption and mansplaining, her direct pushback—their dynamic shows through interaction.

Exposition Disguised as Dialogue (Avoid)

When characters tell each other things they already know just to inform the reader, it's clunky:

BAD: "'As you know, Sarah, we've been partners for five years, ever since that case where you almost died and I saved you, which is why we're so close now.'"

No one talks like this. If Sarah knows it, he wouldn't say it.

BETTER: Show their partnership through behavior:
"Sarah tossed him the keys without looking. He caught them one-handed, already heading for the driver's side. Five years in, they didn't need to discuss who drove to crime scenes anymore."

Subtext in Dialogue

What characters don't say is often more interesting than what they do say.

TELLING: "He didn't want to talk about his ex-wife."

SHOWING (with subtext):
"'How's Rachel?' Sarah asked.
'Fine.' He picked up his coffee, put it down, picked it up again. 'She's fine. We don't really—anyway. What were you saying about the case?'"

His discomfort shows through fragmented speech, fidgeting, subject change. We infer the painful topic without being told.

Exceptions: When Telling Works Better

Show don't tell isn't absolute. Sometimes telling is more effective.

When to Tell

1. Pacing Requirements

When you need to move quickly through less important moments:

TELLING: "The next three days passed in a blur of interviews that led nowhere."

This efficiently covers three days. Showing each interview would bog down pacing. Tell to skip ahead.

2. Establishing Facts

Objective information doesn't need showing:

FINE: "She was 37, divorced, with a daughter starting college."

These are facts. Showing her age through elaborate scene where someone asks and she answers wastes words.

3. Complex Information

When explaining technical processes or backstory that's necessary but not dramatic:

ACCEPTABLE: "He explained the DNA analysis process while she took notes. The short version: they had a match, but contamination made it inadmissible in court."

Showing this entire explanation as dialogue would bore readers. Summary through telling is more efficient.

4. Intentional Emotional Distance

Sometimes you want readers to feel disconnected from a character or moment:

INTENTIONAL TELLING: "She felt nothing when they told her he was dead. Wasn't that what she was supposed to feel? Nothing?"

The flat, tell-y narration mirrors the character's numbness. Showing vivid sensory details would undermine the emotional flatness you're creating.

5. Voice-Driven Narration

Some narratives use tell-y, opinionated first-person voice as a stylistic choice:

EXAMPLE: "Listen, Marcus was an asshole. Not the kind who doesn't know it—the kind who knows it and considers it a strength. You know the type."

This direct, tell-y narration creates a specific, conversational voice. It works because it's a choice, not a mistake.

The 80/20 Guideline

In crucial emotional scenes: 80% showing, 20% telling
In action scenes: 90% showing, 10% telling
In transitional scenes: 50/50 or more telling is fine
In experimental voice-driven work: Adjust as style requires

Exercises for Improvement

Exercise 1: Translate Emotions

Take these emotion words and write three ways to show each without naming the emotion:

Angry:
1. [Physical response]
2. [Dialogue/tone]
3. [Environmental interaction]

Example answers:
1. Her jaw clenched so hard her teeth ached. Heat crawled up her neck.
2. 'Get out.' The words dropped like stones. Flat, quiet, deadly.
3. She grabbed the nearest object—a coffee mug—and launched it at the wall. It shattered, brown liquid streaming down white paint.

Heartbroken:
Excited:
Terrified:
Relieved:

Practice with at least 20 emotions. Keep a reference file of your responses. When you need to show an emotion in your work, consult your file.

Exercise 2: Action Over Adjectives

Replace adjective descriptions with actions that demonstrate the quality.

TELLING: "John was a confident person."

SHOWING: "John walked into the boardroom eight minutes late, dropped his bag on the table without apology, and sat in the CEO's usual chair. 'Let's start,' he said, like he'd been waiting for them."

Confidence shown through: tardiness without anxiety, claiming space, giving orders.

Practice transforming these:
• Nervous person →
• Arrogant person →
• Depressed person →
• Meticulous person →
• Impulsive person →

Exercise 3: Sensory Expansion

Take a telling sentence and expand it using all five senses:

TELLING: "The house was creepy."

SHOWING:
• Sight: Cobwebs stretched across doorways, thick as curtains. Dust motes swirled in air that hadn't moved in decades.
• Sound: Floorboards groaned under her weight. Somewhere above, something scurried.
• Touch: The air felt thick, humid, like breathing through wet cloth.
• Smell: Rot and mildew, overlaid with something sweet gone bad.
• Taste (if relevant): She could taste the decay on the back of her tongue.

Not every sense every time, but practicing with all five builds your showing vocabulary.

Exercise 4: Revision Challenge

Take a telling-heavy paragraph from your own work. Rewrite it three ways:

• Version 1: Subtle showing (minimal details, trust reader)
• Version 2: Balanced showing (mix of action, thought, sensation)
• Version 3: Rich showing (full sensory immersion)

Compare. Which feels right for this moment in your story? Different scenes require different levels.

Before/After Examples from Classics

Let's examine how published authors show instead of tell.

Example 1: Jealousy (The Great Gatsby)

If Fitzgerald had told us Tom was jealous of Gatsby:

TELLING: "Tom was jealous of Gatsby's wealth and his connection with Daisy."

What Fitzgerald actually wrote (SHOWING):

"'I've got a nice place here,' [Tom] said, his eyes flashing about restlessly. Turning me around by one arm, he moved a broad flat hand along the front vista, including in its sweep a sunken Italian garden, a half acre of deep, pungent roses, and a snub-nosed motor-boat that bumped the tide offshore."

Tom's insecurity shows through restless eyes and desperate showcasing of his possessions. He needs validation. The physical behaviors reveal jealousy without naming it.

Example 2: Grief (The Lovely Bones)

TELLING: "Her father was devastated by her death."

What Alice Sebold wrote (SHOWING):

"My father had the pieces of the ship in his den, laid out on a towel... Now the pieces lay untouched... The ships in bottles that he'd given my mother for anniversaries or on her birthday sat in a neat row on a shelf above his desk. He would look at them and think of me."

Abandoned hobby, untouched ships, looking at them while thinking of her—grief shown through specific details and behavior change.

Example 3: Attraction (Pride and Prejudice)

TELLING: "Elizabeth found herself attracted to Mr. Darcy despite her earlier dislike."

What Austen wrote (SHOWING):

"She grew absolutely ashamed of herself. Of neither Darcy nor Wickham could she think without feeling she had been blind, partial, prejudiced, absurd... 'How despicably I have acted!' she cried; 'I, who have prided myself on my discernment!'"

Elizabeth's self-recrimination and recognition of her blindness shows the shift in her feelings. We infer she sees Darcy differently now because she's questioning all her previous judgments.

Common Overcompensation Mistakes

New writers, once they learn show don't tell, often overdo it.

Mistake 1: Too Much Physical Description

OVER-SHOWING: "Her heart raced. Sweat beaded on her forehead. Her hands trembled. Her breath came in short gasps. Her stomach churned. Her knees felt weak."

This is exhausting. One or two physical details are enough. Trust readers to extrapolate.

BALANCED: "Her heart hammered. She gripped the podium to stop her hands from shaking."

Two details. We get it. Moving on.

Mistake 2: Showing Everything

Not every moment deserves full sensory immersion. Save deep showing for crucial scenes.

INEFFICIENT: [Shows character brushing teeth in full sensory detail, scraping toast, pouring coffee, tying shoes—all before the actual scene starts]

EFFICIENT: "She grabbed coffee and toast on her way out, already running late."

Morning routine told efficiently so we can get to the actual story.

Mistake 3: Melodrama

Over-dramatic showing that doesn't match emotion intensity:

MELODRAMATIC: "'Hello,' he said. [She describes a minor greeting as if it's a marriage proposal, full page of sensory details about his voice, her reaction, the atmosphere]"

Match showing intensity to moment's importance. Small moments get light touch. Critical moments get full treatment.

The Subtlety Spectrum

Not everything should be obvious:

Heavy-handed: "She was lying. He could tell by the way she touched her nose and looked away and shifted her weight and—"
(Too many obvious tells)

Balanced: "'I was home all night.' She met his eyes for exactly two seconds before looking at her coffee."
(One subtle tell)

Subtle: "'Home all night,' she said, stirring her already-stirred coffee."
(Very subtle nervous behavior; reader might not consciously notice she's lying but senses something off)

Different moments require different subtlety levels. Crucial revelations can be heavy-handed. Character quirks should be subtle.

Key Takeaways

Identifying telling in drafts requires scanning for emotion names, state-of-being verbs, mental state words, and personality adjectives. Ask: "Am I explaining something readers could infer from behavior?" Flag these sentences for potential revision, though not every instance needs changing.

Sensory language transforms telling into showing. Use sight (what camera sees), sound (how they speak, environmental noise), touch (physical sensations), smell (memory triggers), and taste (when relevant). One or two sensory details per emotion usually suffice—don't catalog every physical response.

Dialogue shows through what characters say, how they say it, what they don't say, and subtext beneath words. Avoid exposition disguised as dialogue (characters explaining things they already know). Real people communicate imperfectly, interrupt, deflect, and hide truth—use this.

Telling is acceptable for pacing (skipping unimportant time), establishing facts (age, background), complex information (technical explanations), intentional emotional distance, and voice-driven stylistic choices. Aim for 80% showing in crucial scenes, 50/50 in transitions, more telling when efficiency matters.

Exercises build showing muscle memory. Translate 20+ emotions into physical manifestations. Replace adjectives with actions demonstrating qualities. Expand telling sentences using all five senses. Revise your own telling passages at subtle, balanced, and rich showing levels.

Published examples demonstrate technique: Gatsby shows jealousy through restless behavior and possession-showcasing. The Lovely Bones shows grief through abandoned hobbies and changed routines. Pride and Prejudice shows attraction shift through self-recrimination and recognition of blindness. Study how your favorite authors handle showing.