Every writer has heard the injunction show, don't tell. Most have heard it so many times it has lost whatever pertinence or, at least, edge, it once had. So, let's take it as read, move past it, and talk about the trap that waits on the other side. Because there is one. This week off the water Writers who've absorbed the show-don’t-tell lesson often find themselves reaching for what you might call illustrated explanation – a gesture that is really just a showy word or phrase dressed up in...