"Show, don't tell" is the most common note in any creative writing class, and the easiest to lose track of mid-draft. This checker scans your prose for four categories of telling: emotion-tells ("she was angry"), cognition-tells ("he thought," "she realized"), stative-tells ("seemed nervous"), and adverb-tells ("smiled brightly"). Each match is color-coded inline.
The four categories, in plain terms
Emotion-tells (red)
State-of-being verbs followed by named emotions: was angry, felt sad, seemed nervous. The fastest way to convey a feeling, but also the least vivid. The reader gets the label without the experience.
Fix: dramatize through physical or behavioral detail. Was angry → His knuckles whitened. Felt sad → She stared at the floor for a long time before answering.
Cognition-tells (orange)
Interior tags that name what the character is thinking: thought, realized, knew, decided, wondered, understood. In close POV especially, these add a layer between the reader and the character's experience.
Fix: often you can simply delete the tag. She wondered if he'd call → Would he call? He realized he'd been wrong → He'd been wrong.
Stative-tells (yellow)
Seemed and appeared followed by an adjective. Hedging language. Direct description usually lands harder than implied description.
Fix: describe the observable detail that produced the impression. He seemed nervous → He kept glancing at the door.
Adverb-tells (blue)
Communication or action verbs paired with -ly adverbs: smiled brightly, spoke softly, walked quickly. The adverb is doing the emotional work the verb should carry.
Fix: stronger verb. Smiled brightly → beamed. Spoke softly → whispered. Walked quickly → hurried.
How to use this in editing
- Run a chapter at a time. Whole-novel analysis dilutes the signal. 2,000–5,000 words is the sweet spot.
- Skim the highlights, don't fix everything. Some flagged sentences are fine: connective tissue or deliberate. Pick the ones where dramatizing would clearly land harder.
- Watch for clusters. Three emotion-tells in a row almost always means a scene is being narrated when it should be dramatized.
- Cognition verbs first. Of the four categories, cognition-tells (thought, realized, knew) are the easiest to delete with no loss of meaning. Start there for quick wins.
- Don't delete every adverb. Adverbs in description ("the rain fell steadily") are fine. The pattern that's usually weak is verb+adverb in action and dialogue.
What this tool can't do
Implicit telling. "He had always been the kind of man who hated mornings" tells without using any of the flagged patterns. The checker won't catch it.
Context. Some flagged sentences are great in their actual context. Internal narration during a flashback, a deliberately distant POV, or a comedic beat may use these patterns on purpose. Your judgment overrides the highlighter.
Quality of prose. Zero tells doesn't mean great writing. Show-vs-tell is one dial among many. Pacing, voice, characterization, and structure matter more.