Nonfiction Narrative: Show Don't Tell

The narrative is what we usually mean by the word "story." A narrative has a beginning, middle, and end. It is organized chronologically, though not necessarily strictly so. One of the most useful and simplest pieces of advice about writing I ever received was the time-honored adage "Show don't tell." The narrative shows readers what happened, often in vivid detail. Of all the forms of writing, it is the one that strives to re-create reality for the reader.

John B. Stewart, Follow the Story, 1998