Show, don’t tell.

[CrimsonGenius]

Some say do more show, others say a mix. Well?

 

[Fairemont]

Tell them to finish their own story before they worry about other peoples' writing.

 

[Tyranomaster]

The rule is very unclear as to when, and there are plenty of times when, to tell. This has been hashed out multiple times on the forums. One can expound literally infinitely and show every single thing, but sometimes, the only thing that really mattered was the gun was placed on the table, not some inner monologue about how he remembered buying the thing 4 years ago in a yard sale so he absentmindedly put it down, and that the table made a distinct click every time it was off balance.

Plot can literally take forever to move if you only show. Sometimes, it's appropriate to just tell the reader that character did x. If you take three chapters showing a character go the dry cleaners to get their suit, then the suit better be important, otherwise, don't show it. However, if you wanted to indicate that the character does get their suit dry cleaned (possibly regularly), to give them a bit of personality, but the suit and dry cleaners themselves aren't important, then just tell the reader that *on the way to do x, they stopped to pick up their dry cleaning at y, which they do regularly*.

It literally is just heavily dependent on what you're trying to achieve as an author. If I'm being entirely honest, too many series have too much filler that makes the story boring because authors are showing and NOT telling. Some people take this rule to an extreme, and the story gets boring. Of course, too much telling also gets boring. You can think of extreme examples on either end of the spectrum that indicate why each is not good.

Star Wars does plenty of telling in the opening crawl, and it's a movie. Textbooks are 90% telling, and they're usually quite boring. It is what it is, and there isn't a real rule on it, Chekov said it. If you read your own writing, and it seems bland, then go back and do some showing. If it feels like it's taking too long to move the plot forward, find places where you should be telling instead.

 

[Daydreamers]

You need to be a good reader to know; I'd say don't tell emotions, the rest is a matter of pacing and the type of story you're writing;

 

[Fairemont]

As a more serious answer: there are pros and cons to both.

These pros and cons deal primarily with two things: pacing and intensity.

"Telling" is much faster, and lower impact on the reader. "Showing" takes up a lot more space/time and tends to be more intense, emotional, or evocative. Therefore, the best way to deal with showing and telling is to determine what benefits you the most at any particular time as a writer, and what will have the most impact on the reader.

Easy rule of thumb is that the most important or dramatic the moment, the more likely it should be shown rather than told.

 

[Ai-chan]

Don't show too much. Explicitness is tiring when all you have is a nudity. Too much exhibitionism makes people annoyed. Pace it down. If you feel like your head hurts when reading, you've probably showed too much. Nobody cares about the details of a very expressionistic nudist that has nothing to do with the plot.

 

[Story_Marc]

Here you go.