Showing versus Telling
Avoid telling your readers what to think. Instead, show them through detail that reaches the senses. People don’t often like to be told what to think. Reading is an experience. We read to become part of a world, not to be told about the world but to see and feel it for ourselves.
Consider the following examples:
- The train station smelled bad.
- The train station smelled of garbage and dust.
The second example allows readers to experience the smell and decide for themselves that it is bad. It allows the readers to experience what the writer is experiencing.
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