Tell Me, Show Me, Close the Tell Me, Show Me, Close the LoopLoop

An OverviewAn Overview

Tell meTell me

This step in the writing process is the easiest piece of the puzzle for writers to get. After all, if you write it down, you are telling your audience. Here’s an example:

“My dad is my inspiration.”

The sentence is sound, it tells the reader something about the writer’s father, and we can gather that he is a great guy. But, do we really know him, yet?

Show MeShow Me

If you’re willing to spend the time discussing a topic, be willing to spend the time to develop it so we the reader can share it with you on more than a superficial level.

You can do this by showing an example of what you told us.

“Anytime I felt like I was a failure because I couldn’t do something, like learning to ride my bike, passing an Algebra test, or not getting the job I applied for, he would tell me, ‘Failing is not falling down. Failing is not getting back up!’”

Now, do you have a clearer picture of who this guy is? Instead of telling us he is inspirational, we see it through a

specific example.

Close the LoopClose the Loop

However, good writing requires one more thing—closing the loop. This final step is the connection between your assertion (dad is inspirational) and your proof (the example). Make clear to your reader HOW or WHY the example proves the assertion:

“His reminder to me that the only real way to fail was to give up taught me to always keep trying. To this day, anytime I feel like quitting, I just remember my dad’s saying, and I know I can go on.”

This final piece explains HOW dad is inspirational—his advice is a constant part of the writer’s life.

So here it is altogether:

I believe my father is my inspiration in life. When I was growing up, I had my share of not so successful events—learning to ride a bike; passing an important Algebra exam; not getting that job at the coffee shop I really wanted. Yet, each time I thought I had failed at something, my dad would tell me, “So you fell down. Falling down isn’t failing—not getting up is!” Sometimes, when he told me that, I wanted to scream in aggravation. But he was right—to this day, anytime I feel like quitting, I think about my dad’s saying, and I know I must go on.

Look at this paragraph. Can you identify the Tell me, Show me, and Close the loop?

While the physical presence of the sea reflects each man’s nature in the early pages, at story’s end the sea serves as a contradiction. After the captain and Leggatt have established a plan of escape, the captain orders the ship close to the shore under pretense of looking for the winds off the islands. Conrad now chooses to use the juxtaposition of a calm, silent night as a contrast to the captain’s increasing internal conflict. He struggles between his duty to his ship and the danger he is placing everyone on board in, and his need to help his doppelganger. As the dark island looms before him, he remarks “the world was silent…the stillness intolerable” (58). Unlike the beginning of the story, when the stillness around him brought peace, this stillness seems to mock the captain and serves to frame the shift in his character.

Here’s how it splits up:

While the physical presence of the sea reflects each man’s nature in the early pages, at story’s end the sea serves as a contradiction. After the captain and Leggatt have established a plan of escape, the captain orders the ship close to the shore under pretense of looking for the winds off the islands. Conrad now chooses to use the juxtaposition of a calm, silent night as a contrast to the captain’s increasing internal conflict. He struggles between his duty to his ship and the danger he is placing everyone on board in, and his need to help his doppelganger. As the dark island looms before him, he remarks “the world was silent…the stillness intolerable” (58). Unlike the beginning of the story, when the stillness around him brought peace, this stillness seems to mock the captain and serves to frame the shift in his character. Tell me: The sea serves as a point of contradiction in the novel. Show me: Specific examples from the novel. Close the loop: HOW the example shows contradiction.