Show Don't Tell: Rule, Guideline, Examples

We've all heard it at some point: show the details, don't just tell us about them.

Some treat it as a practice, others a code to live by.

The hardest thing to do, it seems, is to provide a thorough example. For instance, I google the rule and I get a blatant example:

—

Here's telling:

I’ll never forget how I felt after Fido died. I was miserable.

Here's showing:

Whenever puppies in the pet store window distracted me from our walk, Fido flattened his scruffy ears, growling. But he always forgave me. As his sight faded, the smell of fresh air and the feel of grass would make him try to caper. Eventually, at the sound of my voice, his tail thumped weakly on the ground. This morning, I filled his water bowl all the way to the top–just the way he likes it–before I remembered.

—

Obviously the "show" example is lengthier and more in-depth, and the "tell" example is short and lame. But books, fan fics, and short stories in general tend to be longer than a single paragraph. A paragraph can still be telling despite being longer and more informative than the example above.

I'm a learn by example kind of guy. What I'm looking for is an example of a story that shows and tells evenly, without exaggerating the "telling is the worst writing sin you can possibly commit" part.

Can anyone provide better examples of show, don't tell from actual works? How about a writer who does more telling than showing, or a work that balances the two well.

And while we're on it, what's your view on the rule/guideline?

edited 7th Feb '14 10:30:51 AM by FOFD

I completely agree that telling doesn't have to be short and can be used in actual stories. Nostalgia Critic - The Last Airbender says the movie is always telling us what happened rather than why it happened. There's no one saying, "I feel something, I like something, I wonder something." It's nothing but going places and explaining things.

Your example is apples to oranges:

Telling — I’ll never forget how I felt after Fido died. I was miserable.

Showing — The memory of Fido's death knots my stomach, even now.

Telling versus showing is more about telling the reader emotions than 'showing them the emotions'.

edited 7th Feb '14 2:18:44 PM by Dimanagul

Showing Fido's Death:

I watch the litter of puppies playing rough in the pet shop window. A memory comes to me. It is always the same.

Blood trickles from the wound on Fido’s side, aggravated by his desperate attempt to back away from me. I reach out, ignoring his faint growl and run my hand along his muzzle. He bites but his teeth lack the power to break my skin.

He recognizes me then. His large brown eyes fixate on me, asking me a question without words: Why? I have no answer for him.

Fido lowers his head and thumps his tail on the ground, one last time.

edited 7th Feb '14 2:39:23 PM by Dimanagul

If it's important, show it. If it's not that important, tell me. That's my philosophy.

I haven't read very many books or stories that balance them out. Most of the things I've read were big on the showing, unless it was some kind of experimental poetic story or a rewritten fairy tale of some kind.

I remember thinking years ago that you had to show every detail to an impossible, impractical degree, like a fractal in word form. I understood that 'he is an artist' was telling, but I thought that you also had to show how his hands were perpetually stained, how his various tools and painting clothes were well-loved, and how the stench of turpentine throughout his studio was both heady and headache-inducing.

It all depends on what exactly you're trying to say and how important that thing is. If this artist is the protagonist or some other similarly important character, it wouldn't be too out-of-line to offer some glimpses into the projects that stained his clothes, such as him recalling a charcoal piece he made in school as well as how exhilarated he felt seeing it hanging in the gallery, or a painting with tons of a certain color that he made on commission and how finicky the customer was. But if he was just a bit character such as an artist who works a day job as a waiter and brings the actual protagonist his food, then much of that beyond his stained hands and hair smelling of turpentine would fall into the realm of 'too much information'.

That's how I see it; hope it helps.

Relevent to this thread. A blog that uses examples from well-known literature to highlight both showing and telling in effective ways.