Rant: The "show don't tell" rule is getting misused

I keep seeing people in writing groups say you should never state a character's emotion directly. "He was angry" gets flagged as bad writing every time. But I read a passage from Stephen King last week where he just says "Roland was furious" and it works fine because the context carries it. Why has the rule turned into this absolute thing where every feeling has to be shown through sweaty palms or clenched jaws? Anyone else think we've swung too far into avoiding simple emotional statements?

2 comments

2 Comments

taylor_patel28d ago

Got into this same fight in my writers group last month. I told them that flat out stating an emotion once in a scene is fine if the rest of the writing carries the weight. The real trick is to look at the whole paragraph. If you write "John was sad" and then spend three sentences explaining why through his actions, you're golden. The problem comes when people slap a label on a feeling and expect it to do all the work. Show don't tell is about balance, not a straight ban on emotion words.

drew80528d ago

That's just how people talk in real life too.