When showing becomes too much

Yes, you really can go too far with “show, don’t tell.” When the narrative is too dense, readers will stop reading. Mostly because too much show causes reader overwhelm and they often lose the plot or point of what you are trying to show.

Too much showing

• Hyperdetailing: Excessive descriptions that don’t advance the plot and/or don’t reveal anything significant about the characters or world. Similar to info-dump, hyperdetailing is so many sensory details that things tip over from ‘painting a picture’ into ‘too much paint’ and readers won’t discern what the picture was supposed to be.
• Irrelevant Detail: Sensory information or backstory with no bearing on the story’s core conflict or themes.
• Slow Pacing: Over-detailing everyday actions interrupts the flow of the story and diminishes tension. Sometimes, yes, a character wants to linger in calm. But even then, detailing their every heavy step is going to wear out the reader before you get to your point.

Tips to Avoid Showing Too Much

• Provide details that have purpose: Every detail you choose to share should have a purpose. This could be establishing the tone or mood, foreshadowing, characterization, or describe a plot complication.

If it’s “typical” movement, like getting out of bed, getting dressed, preparing breakfast, or driving to work, or even a typical work day, unless it is the first time and you are ESTABLISHING this is routine, you should just sum up and move on.

• Provide only the most vivid immersive sensory details: Don’t have sensory details for the sake of them, but add only the ones that will resonate with the characters’ thoughts or the story’s theme(s). Word choice as well as which senses to elevate matter here.

Fully describe actions that characterize — such as someone who is highly mannered — following them in detail through their helpful moment. The next time they help out, however, you could simply share “Randolph helped set the table. She smiled at him as they both sat down. She could get used to this.”

Note: Switching point of view to the character affected by the repeated action provides a chance to deepen a relationship between the characters.

• Use Summaries and Narration: For unimportant spaces — or uninterrupted movement through previous ones — briefly summarize rather than provide another extensive scene description.

It isn’t necessary to do a blow-by-blow unless something interesting happens to DISRUPT the routine.

• Trust Your Audience: Give readers credit for their ability to interpret and understand, allowing them to make connections and draw conclusions.

The first time you’re in a space, describe it and your characters’ actions within it fully. But there’s no need in a later scene to reference that the keys she set down on the front table are once again picked up from the front table before she walks back out the door. Trust the reader to remember she set the keys down there and they’re able to guess that she picked them up from the table on her way out.

UNLESS she forgot them and locked herself out. But that would make it a plot point. For that, you wouldn’t write “She forgot her keys on the hook by the door” since that will cut into the tension of the upcoming plot complication. Instead, you’d write “In the driveway, she dug in her bag for her car keys. She winced when she came up empty. She tried the front door. Crap.” No need to even tell the reader she walked back to the front door and found it locked. The internal thought clues readers that is what has happened.

~ Lara

My availability for editing is very scarce until nearly spring. I might be able to fit in very small projects, and I, of course, can continue to do sample edits. So, if you’re going to be looking for a professional edit in 2026, it might be best to have a chat with me now and get on my calendar. ~ LZ