welcome back to invit here we are with a
writing lesson we are looking at the
skill of showing not telling and it's
gonna transform your writing as long as
you put it into practice afterwards show
not tell what's he talking about
when we're writing we want to avoid
simple statements that don't really add
any description or flavor for example
the man was stressed
boring instead I want you to paint a
picture I would really want you to
describe that the man is stressed
without telling me that he is so how can
he do that we're kind of trying to avoid
this word and describe it instead
so what's he doing the man was fidgeting
he's fidgeting he's so stressed he can't
sort of stay still and biting his nails
okay so pick out a couple of details
that show how the person was next one
the room was messy again it's a simple
simple sentence in but it's just one
sort of main clause and it's not very
interesting much better to describe the
items in the room that make it messy for
example there was a leftover pizza dirty
clothes were strewn a write that word
for you that means they were covering
the floor and there were dirty plates
and cups okay these details give us the
idea that it is messy example three the
woman was confident okay but it'd be
much more effective if you described how
she was confident so how does she move
how do other people react to her she
strode that means she walked but with
purpose okay so I've picked an
interesting verb she strode into the
room and
everyone turned their heads to notice
her okay much clearer more vivid idea of
confidence than just saying she was
confident example for the boy was
careful tell us how he was careful he
placed his favorite magazine in the top
drawer of his cabinet okay so we need to
say exactly what he is placing the
object there has been missed out
he placed there's no room for me to
write it you get the idea he plated his
favorite book or magazine and look how
specific is the top drawer of his
cabinet next example the stadium was
full again I'm bored
with this simple sentence construction
we need to make it more interesting the
sound from the stadium was death at
deafening okay and then give us the main
action perhaps the sound from the
stadium was deafening as the crowd rose
up to chant the player's name okay give
us the sense that the stadium is full
from what you can see and what you can
hear okay a couple of ones to describe
whether it was hot okay well a very
young child could write a sentence like
that so if you also have a teenager or
an adult it's time to raise the bar how
can we tell that it is hot while the son
was causing damage to the son was
melting the Sun was burning the Sun was
causing the lady's skin to turn red okay
pick out details that show the effect it
was cold it was cold how do we know it
was cold how cold did it feel what can
you see drainpipes were freezing ice was
as thick as I don't know was three
inches thick whatever you've got to show
details rather than just stating things
it was windy the umbrella was totally
bent out of shape the umbrella you know
for keeping the rain off us was totally
that means fully bent yep
bent out of shape out of its normal
position
he found it funny right how funny did he
find it okay better to for us to get the
idea to picture what he was doing he was
rolling around the floor in hysterics
okay when you're so fun find something
so funny
okay he's he can't control his body he
finds it so funny hysterics that means
like totally lost control hysteria
okay hysterics in hysterics means
finding something really really funny
the castle was captured right I want to
get a sense of drama I want to imagine
what's happening there at the castle is
the king having his head cut off are the
new army marching in what's happening
the new flag was hoisted up on high
greeted by a cheer from the crowd okay
paint pictures pick out details okay
it's good to have a range of adjectives
but how can you show those adjectives
how can you describe them instead thank
you for watching today's video have it
go at the quiz after this and I'll see
you very soon remember to subscribe bye