Showing versus Telling

Showing is powerful, it has the ability to give the reader a complete image in their minds about the scene, about the people, and gives the reader an insight and the capability to actually see what's going on - and this can stick in their heads much longer than just saying "she was mad".

"Don't tell us the old lady screamed - bring her on and let her show us." -Samuel Clemens

So, how do we change a regular piece of work, into something that shows us what's happening? Well, I've quickly typed up a bit of writing from a very old English essay, and I've chosen to change it...

It was dark, and Chris couldn't see very well. He was mad when he was at John's, and John knew when Chris put the phone down; but Chris was getting calmer now and walked around the room, sometimes tripping.

Into...

Chris adjusted his eyes to the lighting, he could hardly see anything. Whilst he was with John, he had hinted to how he felt when he slammed the phone down; but now he was getting a little calmer, but he was awkwardly walking around, occasionally having to catch himself from crashing into the ground.

So, I prefer the top one. I have highlighted the main parts you need to look at because these parts show you just how I've used Showing instead of telling.

A lot of people don't use this correctly, and it isn't really something you learn in schools, because they just don't care - but it is important that you get this down and learn how to use it properly.