Show Not Tell Writing Examples Novels & Stories

When Las Vegas showgirl Sienna Vale witnesses billionaire casino heir Luca Moretti handling a dangerous mafia problem behind closed penthouse doors, she knows two things immediately: She's in Danger... And she's finally found her way into the spotlight. Luca needs a flawless public image to protect his casino empire from scandal. Sienna needs fames badly enough to risk everything for it. The solution is simple: fake a relationship designed for the cameras, the tabloids, and the elite world of Las Vegas society. But pretending to be the Casino King's glamorous new obsession quickly turns into something far more dangerous when a temporary arrangement becomes more. The rules were supposed to be simple: Play the perfect partner, protect the empire, rise to fame, and never fall in love. But in a city built on temptation, obsession is the most dangerous gamble of all.

Beta Max and I were at the Civil Affairs Bureau, ready to register our marriage. We were just waiting to take the final photo when he got a phone call and left. He abandoned me right there at the marriage registration office, leaving me stuck in an impossible situation. I called him—no answer. I messaged him—no reply. In the end, I had no choice but to call his childhood sweetheart’s number. Beta Max answered. “Louis, can you stop being so annoying? Grace twisted her ankle—I need to take care of her today. Stop calling and waking her up. We’ll reschedule the registration.” I bit my lip and murmured into the phone, “This makes it the seventh time we’ve rescheduled.” “So what? The Civil Affairs Bureau isn’t going anywhere—it’s not like it’s going to disappear!” My face was blank, but it felt like my heart was being carved open. A staff member looked at me with pity and asked, “Alpha Louis, are we still doing this?” I gave a small nod. “Yes. Let’s go through with it.”

I am dead. Only before my death do I realize that I am the sidekick in a tragic coming-of-age story, while my best friend Tinsley Wood is the female lead. I am destined to be disgraced and meet a miserable end, all to highlight her innocence, kindness, and endless good luck. When I open my eyes again, I am reborn on the very first day Tinsley asks me to take the blame for her.

When I'm on my break, I decide to help my neighbor, Yvonne Cook, fix the gas valve, which has been leaking gas. But she instantly lodges a report, saying that I've gone against the rules. She demands compensation for the shock that she's suffered as well. I don't bother defending myself. Instead, I just write a reflection report. After that, my squad leader sentences me to disciplinary confinement. Yvonne wastes no time gloating in the tenants' group chat. "It's time to teach these power-abusers a good lesson, anyway!" Three days later, a fire breaks out in Yvonne's apartment. Thick plumes of dark smoke keep rising from the burning apartment. Yvonne wails as she bangs on my door and pleads with me. "Please crack open the door and put out the fire!" I can only sigh from behind my front door. "I'm under disciplinary suspension right now, so I can't break protocol. You should wait for the fire truck instead."

"Rupert Zachary Kilmer. Do you take Lianna Callis Smith as your lawful wife? To have and to hold, from this day forward. For better, for worse. For richer or poorer. In sickness and in health, until death do you part?”  "I most certainly do, father…" Nearing the day, he'd finally be tied to the woman he loves, Rupert Kilmer eagerly waited for her sweet answer. Those two words and the priest's declaration of their union. Yet, as he unveiled the woman in white, the face that appeared wasn't his bride. "Eridessa…? Wait what? Where's Lia?" *** Lianna Callis Smith thought she'd be a lot happier when she regained her vision. Yet, tears drenched her cheeks as she came home after her surgery, finally seeing the treachery she'd been sensing back when she's still blind. Her marriage only lasted…for two years. For the man she so loved, was on top of another, in her very home. Facing the blame of his affair, Lianna watched in melancholy from afar, as Rupert was wed to another. However, to her surprise, it wasn't just her who stood on the same building, watching that very scene. "You…you're—" Before the strange man could mutter his words, both met darkness until they woke up, back in three years time. "Let's get married, Jasper Wayne. Let's show them…what they…who they wasted…this…we don't deserve any of this… "In this life, let's live happily…"

Connor Greene, a golden boy in Brookhaven, is unwittingly drugged, and I end up being the cure for his "predicament". It's exactly a month later when I discover that I'm pregnant during a routine medical examination. Upon learning the news, Connor offers me 50 million dollars to carry the baby to term, and then another ten million dollars to take full custody of the child. It's then that Julie Sutton, my so-called righteous friend, persuades me to terminate the pregnancy, saying, "You ought to know that money isn't everything, Queenie. If you throw away your dignity for just 60 million dollars, then you're no better than those women who entertain men in clubs!" In my past life, I had an abortion at Julie's suggestion and pursued legal action against Connor, accusing him of assault. I later sought financial assistance and support from Julie after my parents fell gravely ill, but Julie slapped me hard across the face instead. "Your parents are seriously ill, and instead of figuring things out on your own, you come running to me, huh? You're truly shameless, Queenie!" Julie broke off our friendship right then, and I also lost the lawsuit against Connor. I couldn't afford the treatment, so my parents' lives were cut short by their illnesses. In the end, the grief of losing them was too much, so I decided to take my own life by jumping off a rooftop. When I open my eyes, I find myself returning to the day Julie tried to persuade me to get an abortion.

Two months remained until debut evaluation night. Before our unit performance, our main dancer suddenly offered me her center position. I stared at her, confused, "The trainers always praise your stage presence. Why give up your spot?" "You... you deserve center more than I do." Her smile was painfully forced, and she was fidgeting with her practice clothes - obviously not saying what she really felt. Puzzled by her strange behavior, I asked, "Are my moves too big? Am I making it hard for you to perform?" She suddenly started shaking, looking at me with pure fear in her eyes. After what felt like forever, she finally choked out, "Please, just stop. I won't try to compete with you for center anymore!"

In the dark world of the mafia, Donatello thrust his daughters, Summer and Winter into arranged marriages to protect them from their ruthless biological father, a Japanese mafia lord. Summer, with her medical expertise, finds herself bound to Marcelo, a loyal and calculating consigliere. As they navigate the treacherous landscape of their new lives, secrets and misunderstandings threaten to tear them apart. Summer's past, including her lingering feelings for her ex, Emilio, and her complicated relationship with her father, Donatello, further complicates her situation. Will she find love and protection with Marcelo, or will the shadows of her past and the danger that follows her destroy everything she's come to know?

Vivian sacrificed everything for the sake of her marriage with Syrus. She left her work and family to put up with his toxic mother all in the name of preserving their wedding. Yet that didn't stop Syrus from having an affair, what's worse? He wasn't afraid to show it. Having had enough, Vivian asked for a divorce determined to kick-start her life and chase her dreams. If only her ex-husband and his family would just leave her in peace.

Desiree is running from a dark past and just when she thinks she's finally escaped and is free, a case of wrong place wrong time gains her the attention of a cold and ruthless billionaire who would do anything to have her in his bed, including digging up her past and holding it over her head. What starts as a merely sexual relationship with Desiree being forced into Killian's bed blossoms into more as she becomes addicted to the possessiveness of his touch and his gaze and he in turn falls for her unwitting charm. But with the Pandora's box that is her past suddenly opened, enemies that were thought long gone begin to appear and threaten to destroy the relationship they've managed to carve out for themselves. Can they work together to overcome the rising danger or will they be torn apart by secrets and lies?