Show, don’t tell comes down to semantics and how someone chooses to convey a message in their story to their desired reader. The object of writing is to tell a compelling story, thus the term ‘storyteller’.
Sure, one can say using active voice rather than passive voice is better as it delivers more of a punch to your writing and makes it pop; however, it really comes down to the author’s chosen style of writer and the demographic they are trying to reach.
Let me provide an example:
Telling: He was a demon that hated churches and sought to burn them down every chance he got. When he walked past churches, he couldn’t resist waling in and setting fire to them as it gave his a twisted pleasure to see anything associated with God and Christ burn to the ground.
Showing: A look of disgust permeated he witnessed the church followed with a mischievous smirk. As he walked through the gate, the machinations of his mind began working in harmony with the organs being played as he exchanged perfunctory greetings with passersby; he counted them lucky as they wouldn’t be there to witness their sanctuary fall in crimson flames.
Both iterations of this example aren’t wrong. They are both correct and are perfectly fine to be used in any story. It simply depends on what the author wants to accentuate and what they want to use as background or simple context.
Show, don’t tell is not a hard and fact rule, just a rule of thumb and those who make it out to be a hard and fast rule take the creativity and style out of writing as a whole.
Yes, there are better ways to convey the demon’s hatred for churches than both examples, but that doesn’t mean the aforementioned examples are wrong in any way, shape, or form.
Remember, it’s called being a ‘storyteller’ not ‘story-shower’.
It’s up to you as the author to decide what you want to pop in your story and what you want to be in the background. Don’t let anyone tell you how to tell your story.
Hope this helps.
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