Showing v. Telling: When Should Writers Summarize?

Of course not. You’re never going to be able to show every moment of a character’s existence, keep readers on board, and stay within maximum word counts for your genre. The key is to knowing moments when it’s appropriate to summarize and when to give readers the nitty gritty details. That’s what we’re here to help with:

Right After a Big Block of Showing

The majority of your book is going to be scenes played out for the reader to see and enjoy unraveling in real time. But showing every single thing that happens can take a long time, particularly with mundane tasks. After you’ve given a reader a big dose of showing, it’s useful to give readers a break with a little bit of telling. This allows them to process everything that happened before diving into the next big scene.

When Reacting to a Scene

Two common ways these moments of telling are used are with emotional recaps and realizations. Both of these are reactions a character has after they walk away from a conversation or sequence of action, one giving readers an overall sense about how the character feels and the other a sharp, unexpected recognition they hadn’t been fully aware of in the moment. The reason these show up again and again is because we as humans so often continue analyzing situations after the fact. How often do you lay in bed and suddenly think of the exact right thing to have said hours, days, or years later? It’s a viscerally human experience that allows readers to connect with your characters.

In Contrast or Mirror Subplots

One great way to make your narrative more complex is with a well-integrated subplot. Some of the most common subplots after romance are when you put a secondary character into a similar situation as your main character to create more pressure and highlight their similarities and differences. In order for readers to really care about that character’s subplot, they’re going to need moments of showing where they can get invested in these small moments.

However, you never want a secondary character’s subplot to outshine your MC. For this reason, some of the subplot’s scenes can and should be summarized. This is particularly important to do on big scenes for your story structure when they happen simultaneously (or very closely together). Readers can be robbed of the catharsis of a resolution or climax by trying to do too much at once otherwise.

In Transitional Moments

Unless you’re trying to set a mood by showing readers everything that happens as your character is getting ready for the day, running some daily errands, or moving from one scene to the next, it’s probably best to keep it short and simple. And even then, I wouldn’t make a habit of it. Readers have clipped attention spans. Treat giving them juicy details the same way you would recapping your day to a loved one at dinnertime. Not every moment deserves the same kind of weight, and transitions are easy to re-home.

When Stuck in Repetition

If there is something big or small that your character does again and again, it doesn’t make sense to give it the same level of detail each time it happens. Giving readers a full, expressive view of it the first time will allow their mind to fill in the gaps later down the road. Then, slowly, it can become mechanical until you’re ready to start making changes to the routine. Think of it like the classic Groundhog Day with Bill Murray. If we watched every moment of the same day over and over, it would get monotonous, but eventually we fast forward it until he starts taking outlandish action.

The truth is that you’re just not going to be able to show everything. So, knowing the boundaries of when readers can use some telling is a good tool to have. But even the ideas listed have exceptions. So, you should follow your writing instincts. Sometimes, those can be hard to pin down, though. If you’re ever wondering if a particular moment is an exception, a book coach can help you diagnose a scene. And if you’re wanting help with showing v. telling on a larger scale, working with a line editor may be your best option.

Originally published at https://www.chargoteditions.com on February 15, 2022.