"show, don't tell" meaning in English

See show, don't tell in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Proverb

IPA: /ʃəʊ dəʊnt tɛl/ Forms: show don't tell [alternative]
Head templates: {{en-proverb}} show, don't tell
  1. Advice to writers: convey an impression by the way that events are described in the narrative, and not by explicitly stating facts. Related terms: show and tell Translations (Advice): لا تفصح، بل أبد (Arabic), toon, in plaats van te vertellen (Dutch), montru, ne rakontu (Esperanto), montre, ne dis pas (French), mostrar, non contar (Galician), zeigen, nicht erzählen (German), mostra, non raccontare (Italian), نشان دهید، نگویید (Persian), показывай, а не рассказывай (pokazyvaj, a ne rasskazyvaj) (Russian), mostrar, no contar (Spanish)
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          "text": "The second flaw is a flagrant violation of “show, don't tell.” Don't tell readers that she's sad and he's mad. Show the reader what they do. Worst of all, don't do both!",
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          "ref": "2015 October 21, Dana Barbuto, “Review: Aaron Sorkin makes ‘Steve Jobs’ work”, in Northwest Herald:",
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          "code": "ar",
          "lang": "Arabic",
          "sense": "Advice",
          "word": "لا تفصح، بل أبد"
        },
        {
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "sense": "Advice",
          "word": "toon, in plaats van te vertellen"
        },
        {
          "code": "eo",
          "lang": "Esperanto",
          "sense": "Advice",
          "word": "montru, ne rakontu"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "Advice",
          "word": "montre, ne dis pas"
        },
        {
          "code": "gl",
          "lang": "Galician",
          "sense": "Advice",
          "word": "mostrar, non contar"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "Advice",
          "word": "zeigen, nicht erzählen"
        },
        {
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "Advice",
          "word": "mostra, non raccontare"
        },
        {
          "code": "fa",
          "lang": "Persian",
          "sense": "Advice",
          "word": "نشان دهید، نگویید"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "pokazyvaj, a ne rasskazyvaj",
          "sense": "Advice",
          "word": "показывай, а не рассказывай"
        },
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          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "Advice",
          "word": "mostrar, no contar"
        }
      ]
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      "ipa": "/ʃəʊ dəʊnt tɛl/"
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  "word": "show, don't tell"
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      ],
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      "ipa": "/ʃəʊ dəʊnt tɛl/"
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    {
      "code": "ar",
      "lang": "Arabic",
      "sense": "Advice",
      "word": "لا تفصح، بل أبد"
    },
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "sense": "Advice",
      "word": "toon, in plaats van te vertellen"
    },
    {
      "code": "eo",
      "lang": "Esperanto",
      "sense": "Advice",
      "word": "montru, ne rakontu"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "Advice",
      "word": "montre, ne dis pas"
    },
    {
      "code": "gl",
      "lang": "Galician",
      "sense": "Advice",
      "word": "mostrar, non contar"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "Advice",
      "word": "zeigen, nicht erzählen"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "Advice",
      "word": "mostra, non raccontare"
    },
    {
      "code": "fa",
      "lang": "Persian",
      "sense": "Advice",
      "word": "نشان دهید، نگویید"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "pokazyvaj, a ne rasskazyvaj",
      "sense": "Advice",
      "word": "показывай, а не рассказывай"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "Advice",
      "word": "mostrar, no contar"
    }
  ],
  "word": "show, don't tell"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-04-29 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-04-20 using wiktextract (4eaa824 and ea19a0a). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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