Exposition is the part that holds stories together, the bit that introduces information the reader needs to know to understand the plot. It’s the detail that cannot be contained within dialogue or action. It’s worldbuilding and backstory. It’s why a story makes sense.
The problem with exposition is that it’s all too easy to cross that line into “info dump” territory. That’s when a writer plops all her knowledge about a time period, item, character or situation in one large block that overwhelms the reader, breaks the experience of reading, disrupts the flow and feel of the scene, and leaves the work feeling awkward and clumsy.
There are many ways to use exposition to strengthen your story and writing. There are also tricks you can use to provide a large amount of information, for example by sharing a vital piece of evidence in a mystery or having your character read a letter from a long-lost relative. In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, J.K. Rowling used the Daily Prophet to share background information about Sirius Black. This allowed her to tell his backstory in an interesting way. We found out about Sirius along with the main characters. It wasn’t gratuitous information that Hermione, Ron and Harry already knew. This is key. There isn nothing worse in dialogue than when one character tells another things he already knows. “As you know, Ron, wands help a wizard do magic.” This only makes your reader want to say, “Duh.”
Other methods for providing exposition include monologues, dialogues, character’s thoughts, narration, setting and description.
Fairy tales, films and television shows often open with voiceover narration to set the scene and provide background information for the story. This is pure exposition.
It usually takes the form of:
Once upon a time…
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…
Or it could be longer, like the opening narration of Abe Lincoln: Vampire Hunter:
History prefers legends to me. It prefers nobility to brutality, soaring speeches to guilty deeds. History remembers the battle, but forgets the blood. However history remembers me before I was a president, it shall only remember a fraction of the truth…
These opening lines let the audience know this is not going to be the typical story of Abraham Lincoln. It promises to reveal secrets of the man behind the legend. Salacious secrets.
This kind of opening narration works in film and television. It can often go wrong in books, unless the writer is skilled enough to balance the hook with a following action. Too much exposition and you could kill the pacing. Too little exposition and you could lose your reader to confusion. It’s a balance.
Exposition needs to be relevant to the action of the scene and advance the plot. It should be dramatic, so the reader remains caught up in the story and doesn’t realize she’s being fed information vital to her understanding. It should be seamless and natural.
The best way to accomplish this is keep raising the stakes and increasing the tension. Keep pushing the characters and readers forward as you explain details.
Dialogue is the most common place for info dumps, so be careful. Stay rooted in your point of view (POV) and write dialogue that sounds like a real conversation without being real. No one wants to hear the mundane interactions we typically deal with on a daily basis.
Hi! How’s your day going?
Good. How about yours?
I’m good. How can I help you?
This is way too boring. Skip ahead to the best parts and then write like a regular person leaving out the boring bits. Don’t force it. Slip exposition in through context. What your characters are not saying is as important as what they are. How they react to places gives a clue to their character and background. Even the words they use to describe a place or person gives insight into their feelings and character.
Whenever you can, hide exposition within the story itself. Don’t break the storyline to insert facts or information. It should flow from the story and characters organically whenever possible.
Two other places where exposition helps is when condensing time and information.
Condense Time
Stories move quickly. Even if you are doing a story that takes place in a short amount of time, you cannot possibly show every moment. There will be times when you’ll need your character to jump ahead. Exposition is a great way to do that in a short amount of space.
Through the next three weeks…
In the hours that followed…
As the sun set…
Day shifted into night…
Not only does this help keep the story moving, but it maintains the tension. Long narration slows the story. By condensing the information, your reader gets to skip to the good stuff.
Condense Information
As with time, you cannot give your readers every detail about your characters, the action or the story. You have to prioritize and reveal just the salient details. This means condensing your research and background material so your reader only gets what is necessary to understand the story so she won’t get lost.
The trick is to condense information in way that maintains understanding but doesn’t slow the pace or lessen the tension. Give just enough to keep your reader engaged and your protagonist moving forward.
The next blog will focus on tension, which is tied to exposition.