My new realization on "Show vs Tell"

Man, I thought I'd have time to post yesterday, but a friend got married and me, my gran and my mom did the flowers for her.

Being a total novice at flower arranging, I thought it'd be easy. It wasn't. We spent most of the past two days standing, and believe it or not, those arrangements are HEAVY. Add to that the fact that it was a garden wedding with no shade and at the hottest part of a summer's day, and it all adds up to exhaustion.

But today I'm a bit more relaxed, putting up my feet and reading my new crit partners' WiPs and suggestions for  mine.

One WiP I'm critting got me thinking about something interesting. We all know about the "rule" show don't tell. And if you've been writing and reading about writing long enough, you'll know why this "rule" exists.

It draws the reader in more, letting him/her experience the story as close to the same way as the character as possible. Doing that, the reader gets sucked in, which is something any fiction writer worth his/her salt should want.

There's something else I realized just now, that I thought I should share. Showing events rather than telling gives us as writers more scope in a story. It gives us more depth.

Let's say, for example, that the main character's mother died at a young age. You as writer could mention it briefly and let the story progress (telling) OR you could show the effect the mother's death has on the character. So how does this open up the story more?

By exploring something you would have just mentioned, you might find the internal conflict you didn't know you needed. You might even find a subplot that makes the main one stronger. You might even find a solution to a plot hole in a surprising place.

So showing strengthens a story in more ways than the conventional wisdom states. Don't miss a chance to expand your book's horizons, just because a scene doesn't seem to fit the plan. It might just be the difference between a good read and a great one, and leaving emotions un-shown is just one huge missed opportunity.

Have you found an unexpected but perfect story element by delving deeper into something a character just mentioned in the rough draft?