Showing vs Telling: How to know the difference!

[Camzilla]

Alright, so we've all heard you need to "show" and not "tell" your readers something. But you might be wondering how to do it or you might be wondering if you're doing it right. Well, hopefully this will help!

Here is a basic different for you to see:
"He felt scared"
versus
"His face went ashen. His breathing came in ragged gasps".
Now the first thingy you're going to notice is the length difference. Here's the thing though, you don't necessarily need to make it longer to "show".

Let's go," Mary said impatiently.
versus
"Let's go!" Mary snapped.

See the difference? Punctuation and stronger verbs can both help you show the reader how someone is feeling.

Now, you might be asking, what the heck is a "strong" verb. The verb should always carry the weight of the description. If something doesn't feel right, or you think it could be better, then bust out a thesaurus and find a word that works better for you.

Something you never want to forget about is the details. If you say someone is well dressed then you want to be more specific about what they're wearing. Make sure your reader can picture how well dressed they are.

Dialogue can also give the reader insight on your characters. It can tell them all about the characters personality and their intelligence.

BUT

Telling does have its place. If it's something that isn't really important compared to the rest of the story, then go ahead and tell. If it's really not important you can consider leaving it out all together.

Quick tips:
Things that may warrant a second look: Using words/phrases like "is", "was", "were", "there is/was", "there were", "has", "had", "felt", "thought". The use of "always" as well as "and then" or "used to". These words and phrases are not always inappropriate, but as previously stated may warrant a second look

Source 1
Source 2

[lena01]

The Telling is a 2000 science fiction novel by Ursula K. Le Guin set in her fictional universe of Hainish Cycle. The Telling is Le Guin's first follow-up novel set in the Hainish Cycle since her 1974 novel The Dispossessed. It tells the story of Sutty, a Terran sent to be an Ekumen observer, on the planet Aka, and her experiences of political and religious conflicts between a corporatist government and the indigenous resistance, which is centered on the traditions of storytelling, locally referred to as "the Telling" (for which the book is named).