What Show, Don't Tell Really Means (A Lesson from Johnny Cash)

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It’s a phrase you’ve heard over and over again: Show, Don’t Tell. Along with “start in the middle” and “kill your darlings”, you assume you know what it means until you have to do it in your work. 

A writing coach or editor just repeats the phrase, and you nod thinking: I have no idea what you’re talking about. 

So, you go back to your pages with this phrase stuck in your head believing you’re doing your best work, only to get the same note again.

Ugh.

You’re adding details and laying out for the audience why your character is the way they are. Where are you going wrong?

Well, it’s likely you’re missing this one element.

Your Details Need to Reveal Something About Your Character or Story

Let’s pretend you’re writing a food memoir about reuniting with your long-lost love. It’s not enough to say your characters (being you and your significant other) love each other. Paint us a picture of what this looks like. Let the reader live in the moment with you.

One of my favorite quotes is from Johnny Cash when he was asked his idea of paradise:

This morning with her, having coffee. 

Good grief, it still gives me goosebumps typing it.

But here’s why.

Imagine Johnny Cash as a character in your story being asked this question. Your reader might assume an answer about tropical beaches or never working again.

Instead, you have your character say his life is paradise. He’s not speaking about fancy cars or lots of women. He’s speaking about one woman, his wife, and a cup of coffee.

That’s a specific kind of love, and it shows the reader he is grounded and grateful for the simple things in life.

And if I confused you with him saying this, it’s not that your characters can’t speak. But their responses should reveal something about themselves to invite the reader in more. Think of it like a movie or stage play. You want to see the way people love each other and engage with the world; you don’t want to watch characters stand still.

There are so many ways to react to a situation, and the one way your character does is essential for your readers to know.

Because a man who says his idea of paradise is a cup of coffee with his lady is an entirely different man than the one who says it’s being alone in a hut in Fiji.

How to Paint the Picture More

Use specifics as much as possible when you feel like you’re stuck in “tell” mode.

Instead of saying your significant other is “a great performer”, you could highlight that his cross-country tour was sold out in 45 minutes. 

Or the “popular bakery around the corner” becomes the bakery with local scalpers selling spots in line.

And one more: Instead of a “delicious family dinner”, you could emphasize that you bring your own tupperware to your mother-in-law’s just in case there’s leftovers.

See what a difference that is?

Don’t assume your reader knows what you mean by even the most basic of comments. Think of yourself as the artist who has to add each layer of paint from people to see the full picture. 

This also pushes the story forward, so you’re not drowning in vagueness. 

The more you show your readers who your characters are, be it you or the folks around you for food memoirs and cookbooks, and why it matters, the easier it will be to continue writing. 

And isn’t that what we’re all looking for anyway?

If you want some help with this part of the process, grab your spot on my coaching waitlist here, and as soon as the doors open again, you can show me what you’re working with.