Anyone who's ever looked for material on writing has heard the rule about show, don't tell. Yes, sometimes you should tell, but mostly you want to show in your writing. One reason is if you wanted to increase your word count. For example, John was angry. Only three words were used to tell the reader something about John. Let's try showing. John slammed the door, threw his briefcase across the kitchen table and sank into a chair. We get to see a visual of John being angry and possibly depressed. Here is another example from one of my favorite writing books, Showing and Telling In Fiction by Macy Kennedy. First, she gives an example of telling. Kate realized she locked her keys in the car. With a word count of around nine words, we're being told but not shown. In the next version, the author shows with more words. Kate yanked on the car door handle. The door didn't budge, and her keys dangled from the ignition. "Dang it!" Now I know that increasing the word count using showing is not the most important lesson to learn. When I read a book, I want to visualize that world, and to forget my troubles. Still, if you're having a problem with increasing your word count, you may not be showing as much as you think.
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