on Writers Helping Writers:

Writers hear it all the time: Show, don’t tell. In fact, this advice is so iconic I wouldn’t be surprised if a few tattoos of it are kicking around the community. After all, our job as writers isn’t to explain what’s happening to readers, it’s to help them experience the story for themselves. And show, don’t tell is how we do it!

Showing Creates an Experience. Telling Hands Out Information.

Imagine your story as a culinary masterpiece and your reader a dinner guest. Sure, you could slap a plate down and say, “It’s lasagna, enjoy,” or you could slide the steaming dish in front of them and let those saucy layers, bubbling cheese, and heavenly aroma rev them up for the first bite.