<p>I know, show not tell. But is it Ok if I say directly what the person taught me or the way he influenced me?</p>
<p>To be more specific, the sentence I have is:</p>
<p>Indirectly, my grandfather has instilled an open mind in me.</p>
<p>It’s fine. Show, not tell doesn’t have to be followed blindly for every single sentence. If it works in the essay, use it.</p>
<p>That’s no problem as long as you back it up with examples.</p>
<p>“Show don’t tell” isn’t really a rule. It’s more like an informal guideline. Doing some showing and some telling is fine. It’s when you do all telling that the quality of your writing really suffers.</p>