Forums » New Writers Q & A

When is it okay to tell instead of show?

    • 1 posts
    May 31, 2013 6:47 AM PDT

    Is it ever acceptable to do a lot of telling in a story rathing than always showing? I'm at a point where I need to present some backstory to the reader in order to get to the real part of the story. Is all 'telling' a no-no in modern fiction?

    • 4 posts
    January 8, 2017 2:40 PM PST

    No simple single answer there. You need to know what you're doing, and every publisher will have their own level of tolerance.