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“Hallelujah, it’s good to see you again.”

“Sir, it’s nice to be here.”

“Sure you don’t want me to change that name for you?”

“It fits me.”

“Very well, young man.  What’s your question?”

“I’m having problems incorporating the theory of ’show don’t tell’ into my own flash fiction.”

“You’re a promising flash fiction writer.”

“Thank you, Mr. Hogan.  I know my stories have too much exposition in them.”

“Your stories are nearly all exposition.  It’s really fabulous writing but you don’t allow your reader to live in your flash fiction because you’re explaining and judging motivation, thoughts, emotions, everything.  Let the reader participate.  Let the reader form some of his or her own judgements.  You don’t want to dominate the conversation.  That’s rude.”

“I need to ’show don’t tell’ more.”

“Precisely.”

“How exactly do I do that?”

“Picture the story in your mind.  Play it out just like a movie with sound.  If you were a novelist, you would only play out the important scenes of the novel.  Since you’re a flash fiction writer nearly the entire story will be this little movie in your head.  You ’show don’t tell’ by describing to the reader that movie playing in your head.”

“Mainly what the characters are doing and saying.”

“That’s ’show don’t tell’.”