It's easy to say show, don't tell, but what does it really mean?

Telling is when you tell the reader the details instead of letting them make the connection for themselves.

Showing guides them to the conclusion.

You can use things like details, sounds, smells, and your characters' reactions to show what they're doing.

Instead of telling people that your character is angry, describe it. How do you know he is angry? His actions, tone of voice, or even word choice can convey his anger without having to tell people how angry he is.

Example: Tyler slammed his fist down on the table as he shouted, "No! I will not do that."

Instead of saying 'Karen was cold', we can say: 'Karen shivered and hugged her coat tighter around her as she waited for her boyfriend to show up. Frost forming on the grass crunched under her feet.'

Instead of 'Lacey was sad to leave her puppy at home.' – try 'As the car started driving, Lacey wiped her tears away as she thought about how lonely her puppy would be until she returned.'

Don't get me wrong, this doesn't mean that you can't ever 'tell' the readers what happened, but do try to include more showing than telling. No one wants a five-page description of how you made breakfast and ate it. Yet, if it advances the plot, it can be done (such as some 'last meals' in Game of Thrones).

Keep things clear and understandable.

If readers get confused, they often stop reading a story. If you see several comments about something they don't understand, it's wise to take a second look at it.

This can apply to the scene, time passage, events, character mood swings, etc.

How to describe a scene
So, you have great characters and a great plot. But what about the background (aka. the scene)?

Are your characters sneaking through an underground subway tunnel, or marching down a city street? Are there bystanders around?

These are all things that you, as the writer, will have to point out without pretending that you're a tour guide. It may sound difficult – and sometimes it is – but there are several ways to do this.

- Dialogue (both in what they say and/or with dialogue tags) (more examples in the dialogue chapter)

- Have your characters interact with the environment.

Examples:

Dialogue: "Let's go into the living room to discuss this."

Dialogue tag: I quickly closed the fridge door, calling out, "Hey, Mark. Is that fuzzy green thing supposed to be moving?"

Character interacting with environment: I closed the door and flopped down on my bed as I waited for my sister to storm in. [So, the character is in his/her bedroom, with a closed door, and likely has an angry sister somewhere in the immediate vicinity. Let's decorate the room now...] I gazed absently at the blue walls and pictures of my family. I only had pictures of my Dad. None of my Mother though, who knows where she got to. My sister and I were goofing around in most of the photos. [There, the walls are blue, and we also incorporated the family size and dynamic into the story.]

Add emotions
Most readers aren't on Wattpad to read a research paper or a dry historical textbook. They are here to be drawn in by the characters and their emotions.

Often this is done with character actions, dialogue, reactions, etc.

Example: Instead of 'It made me angry', try something more indirect like 'I stormed out of the room before my temper got the better of me.'

Bring the scenes and characters to life in a way that the readers can relate to them.

Location and Time
This is an interesting dimension with no hard and fast rules.

One rule does tend to reign supreme though. Always make sure that your readers know where the characters are or how much time is passing.

We don't need to know the exact town or country, but let the readers know if the main character is in the forest or in the kitchen. This is pretty closely related to painting your scene.

Location can also be ignored to a certain degree as long as your story makes it clear how far away the different destinations are, so that TIME can be tracked, it is usually sufficient and location and speed of travel become null.

For example:
In the old version of The Virus Within, no cities were ever named, nor did people even know what part of the world the story was taking place in. Time was carefully noted though. People could judge distance by how many days they had been driving. It gave them a relative distance in that fashion.

In A Different Virus, the locations were real, properly spaced apart, and could be tracked on a map if one was so inclined. I tended to mention travel time as opposed to exact distances since my readers are from all over the world and not everyone knew how long a kilometer or a mile was.

If you make any scene breaks or larger time skips, make them very clear.

Many writers will use symbols (* or ~) or blank lines to mark a scene break or time skip. Always make sure the new scene/time is clearly described so people aren't left wondering what changed.

Write your story in such a way that readers can follow the storyline easily. It will minimize confusion – which will prevent them from closing the book in confusion.

Try a unique twist in your stories
Make your book stand out from the thousands of books with the same general theme.

In Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, what would have happened if the witch had cast a spell that accidentally turned the dwarves into dragons?

Or what if the witch had been young and Prince Charming had fallen in love with her instead?

Let's pick on the werewolves again. How many werewolf books on Wattpad don't have an Alpha as either the MC or a close supporting character? I have seen less than a dozen.

Think outside the box and try to avoid most cliche scenes.

The possibilities are endless.