on Writers in the Storm:

One of the problems with telling is that’s is often hard for writers to know when they’re doing it.

Show, don’t tell is subjective, which is why one rule doesn’t cover it all. It depends on the genre, the market, the audience, the point of view style, and even the narrative distance. What works for an omniscient third middle grade novel might feel told in a first-person romance written for adults.

If you look at only the text, you risk missing “told prose” in your writing, since a sentence that technically shows can feel told in context. It’s important to examine the different levels of telling so you know what to look for.

Here are three places to look for told prose.