Examples from my creative writing class practices where I turn simple sentences into show do not tell ones:
Simple sentence: Lisa looked at Matthew with empathy.
Simple sentence: Jocelyn cleaned her brother's messy room when he was off at summer camp.
Simple sentence: Bella walked outside her house and into the beautiful snow.
Simple sentence: Nikki flinched from a noise in the darkness.
Simple sentence: Aria cut the cloth seamlessly.
Simple sentence: Peter reached out his hand and Laura took it with a sad look.
Lisa noticed the way Matthew kept staring blankly at the floor, his hands shivering. She slipped out of the room, returning a moment later to drape a heavy fleece blanket over his shoulders, tucking it in without a word.
Jocelyn stood on the threshold of her brother’s room, her hands already gloved in yellow latex. Armed with a stack of empty storage bins and a label maker, she tackled the mountain of laundry first, sorting the chaos into three perfect, color-coded piles before wiping down the baseboards until they gleamed.
Bella stepped off the porch and into a world completely remade in white. Every branch of the old oak tree was dusted with a thick, powdered frosting, and the morning sun caught the pristine blanket covering the lawn, making it glitter like a field of crushed diamonds.
A sharp crack shattered the silence, and Nikki’s entire body jerked violently. Her heart slammed against her ribs like a trapped bird, and the breath caught flat in her throat as she froze, terrified that even the sound of her own exhalation might give her away.
Aria glided the shears through the silk in one continuous, sweeping motion, the blades parting the fabric as effortlessly as a boat cutting through still water.
Peter reached out, and a small, tight crease formed between Laura’s eyebrows. She swallowed hard, forcing a faint, brave smile that didn't quite reach her dark, downcast eyes as she slipped her hand into his.
