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a permission slip and a side-eye
Every serious writer eventually develops a quiet hostility toward show-don't-tell, and that's fine.
The rule is training wheels. It gets you started, and at some point you have to take them off. We talk about why writers outgrow it, how to know when you've graduated, and the more honest replacement principle the Maven uses with experienced clients. The shorter version: trust the reader and stop showing every blink. The longer version: showing and telling are both tools, and a real writer chooses on a sentence-by-sentence basis. The rule was useful until it wasn't. Now it's in your way.
When you've outgrown the rule
| Sign | Meaning |
|---|---|
| You instinctively know when to summarize | Graduated |
| You can defend a tell-paragraph | Graduated |
| Your show-paragraphs land emotionally | Graduated |
| You still apologize for telling | Almost graduated |
| You still believe showing is always better | Not yet |
The Maven replacement principle
- Trust the reader.
- Choose showing when the moment is emotional.
- Choose telling when the moment is transitional.
- Defend both with your craft.
- Stop apologizing for either.
Every serious writer eventually hates show-don't-tell. Good. That's how you know you've outgrown the room it was teaching in.
— L.A. Walton, The Book Maven
From the Maven Catalog
- Master Course — Past the Rule
- eBook — Beyond Show Don't Tell
- Toolkit — Trust-the-Reader Workbook
- Planner — Sentence-Level Choice Planner
Trust the reader. Pick on a sentence-by-sentence basis. The rule was useful. You've outgrown it. Write with both tools and stop apologizing.