As a beginning writer, a person will hear show, don't tell at least half a dozen times during contest critiques, critique partner sessions, workshops, and lectures. But what is easy to say can be difficult to understand.

While sitting in a workshop recently on this very topic, I hit on the difference. Showing is Law and Order: Special Victims Unit® (SVU) and telling is Dragnet®. Both series took you through the investigation of a crime in a given time frame. But while Dragnet presented the story with a dry wit and texture, SVU is very vivid. There are not more lines or even a great deal more description through dialogue from one to the other, but each leaves the viewer with a different feeling at the end of the show.

You want your reader to be immersed, not lectured on the content of your story. Being swept away is the reason fiction is different than other literary prose, and showing accomplishes this. By relating the story as if you as the writer are a part of it, you are painting a picture for the reader, and this picture will draw you in. I'll admit, I am an SVU fan, but even strangers to the show will be drawn to the color and fervor that comes across in both the investigation and prosecution. Suspenseful drama evokes emotion, and this reaction, when employed properly, can translate into a powerful reality with your reader.

If this seems insurmountable, try some other advice passed along during this workshop. Write the story, telling, showing, whatever. Then revise, because you can get much more meat from a piece once the various parts are set up than you might be able to develop otherwise. Even some basic plotting may help you to show, not tell, simply because since you know where you are going, you can move slowly and purposefully to get there, rather than simply racing to find out which end will be up at the end. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with being a fly-by-the-seat of your pants writer, but if you are stuck with a piece or chapter in your manuscript, try telling it to yourself and with that in mind, show it to your reader.

Happy writing!