Rant: That one writing professor who said "show don't tell" was dead wrong for short stories

Back in my sophomore year of college, Professor Evans drilled "show don't tell" into us every single class. Said it was the golden rule of fiction. So I spent 6 months writing these super descriptive short stories about how the light hit the dust motes and how the protagonist's stomach felt like a knot of snakes. Got rejected by every lit mag I submitted to. Then a friend who actually sells stories told me to just tell the reader what's happening. Said readers aren't stupid and they don't need every single feeling painted like a movie scene. I tried it on my next piece - just said "he was scared" and moved on with the plot. Sold it to a quarterly within 3 weeks. Now I show when it matters and tell the rest. Has anyone else gotten stuck following some "rule" from a teacher that doesn't actually work in the real world?

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aaron_wilson173d agoMost Upvoted

Might be overthinking it, plenty of classic short stories tell plenty.