Is there any substance to the “Show,
don’t tell” rule drilled into writers?
It may have some substance, particularly
to writers just coming to the craft. But here’s the bottom line on that, do
what you want. Do what works for your project. It’s your work, you created it.
In your rewrites you will see, eventually, that you may need more show and less
tell or vice versa.
Trust yourself. Trust your
judgment. This rule doesn’t apply in scriptwriting and non-fiction, and it
will send writing teachers screaming, but the rule in writing is that there
aren’t many rules to what you write. Creating good work is a process and there
are hundreds of different formats you can use to create what you want to
create.
Trust yourself. Trust your
judgment. Keep writing and keep honing
your skills in the craft and it will all come to you.