Definition
Tell, don't show is the deliberate opposite of the usual advice: summarizing or stating information when full dramatization would bore readers or waste space.
Example
"They traveled for three weeks" tells efficiently what would be tedious to show scene by scene.
Related terms
Common mistakes
- Using tell, don't show as permission to skip all sensory grounding in important moments.
- Telling emotional conclusions ("He was heartbroken") where a brief shown beat would land harder.