The Writer’s Playground Series – Show, Don’t Tell: Team Sprint

Show, Don’t Tell: Team Sprint

• Objective: To transform abstract emotional states into concrete, sensory details through rapid brainstorming.
• How to Play:
  1. The facilitator writes a simple, “telling” sentence on a whiteboard (e.g., “She was nervous,” “The room felt welcoming,” “He felt betrayed”).
  2. Set a timer for just 2-3 minutes.
  3. As a group, everyone calls out or writes down as many specific, sensory ways to show that sentence as possible. For “She was nervous,” they might list: “tapping her foot,” “chewing her thumbnail,” “a tremor in her voice,” “the clammy feel of her palms.”
  4. The result is a powerful, crowdsourced list of descriptive details.
• Best for: Practicing the “Show, Don’t Tell” rule, building a descriptive vocabulary.

Here are a few “telling” phrases to get you started:

• She was incredibly nervous.
• He was furious.
• They were overjoyed.
• The child was terrified.
• He felt deep regret.
• She was completely exhausted.
• He was bored out of his mind.
• She felt a huge sense of relief.
• He was deeply disappointed.
• She was very confused.
• He was a very powerful and influential man.
• She was incredibly clumsy.
• The king was cruel and selfish.
• She was a kind and generous person.
• He was extremely arrogant.
• The old woman was wise.
• The room was opulent and wealthy.
• The forest felt eerie and dangerous.
• It was a bitterly cold day.
• The party was a huge success and everyone had fun.
• The house was derelict and had been abandoned for years.
• The silence between them was awkward.
• It was obvious they were deeply in love.
• She was intimidated by him.
• He didn’t trust her at all.