exposition: the art of it

[intim8]

I'm not a screenwriter, but I play one on TV.

You always have to personify it, and not even very accurately or perceptively.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

nowadays it's common for a novel to start in the middle of a shooting scene.

it gets me frustrated. who are these characters? why do I have to care for them? I have to follow them for thirty, fifty pages, and I don't know the first thing about them. who are they? what are their goals? why are they shooting at each other? what are the stakes? why the fuck am I reading this shit?

when I was in school, they were teaching us that a story has five parts, the first of which was called "exposition."

later, I've learned on the internet that exposition is evil. worse than the nazis.

now granted, there's good exposition and bad exposition.

but there's also the epoch. back then, when you picked a book, you kept at it, even if the first few pages were kinda boring. what else where you going to do? nowadays, you start reading a story online, if it does not "hook" you in the first paragraph, you move on. you close the page, look for something else. try a different story.

the question is: how do you do exposition? what is the good way to do it?

I agree with others that the most effective use of exposition is typically to intersperse it throughout the story where appropriate. I've done this frequently with entirely positive feedback from editors, publishers, and most importantly, readers.

A prologue on the other hand is different than exposition. It should not be a part of the core story itself, but an introduction that provides a glimpse of the character(s) and what is to come. For example, here is the prologue from "Searching":

She noticed him immediately. She had been taught.

His appearance made her pause in her stroll back to the mall. She remained approximately three feet inside the hallway that led to the restrooms near the food court at Shoreline Mall. She could watch him, but he would have a difficult time seeing her. She had been taught.

Other patrons of the mall lingered at tables in the food court or stood in lines at one of the food vendors’ counters. If anyone else had noticed the man wearing a Kevlar vest and carrying the duffel bag they hadn’t reacted as she had. She had been taught.

She continued watching from the hallway as the man stopped just inside the doors leading to the west parking lot of the mall. He wasn’t leaving as she had hoped. He was positioning himself between the people in the food court and their quickest exit. This could all be staged. Some sort of drill or test of security response to an active shooter, but her instincts told her otherwise. Her right hand reached inside her purse as the man slowly lowered the duffel bag to the tile floor, squatted with his back to the food court, and began to unzip it. She kept the man in her peripheral vision as she glanced over to the food court and looked up, taking in the whole environment. She had been taught.

Through the glass half-wall that provided a barrier for the Mezzanine level of the mall, she could see more than a dozen shoppers strolling across her field of vision, most distracted by their cell phones or focused on their next purchasing objective. She returned her attention to the man and saw him just rising after retrieving several items from the bag. While she had hoped that the intentions of the man were not as she had suspected, she saw that he had donned a balaclava over his face before standing. This, coupled with the sight of the automatic rifle with a thirty-round magazine and the pump-action shotgun dispelled any doubts. She used her left hand to lower her sunglasses from the top of her head and put them on. She then removed her right hand from her purse and held it at her side. Patience. She had been taught.

This was real. It took only seconds, but her instincts were verified as the half-wall barrier to the Mezzanine level exploded into thousands of pea-sized particles of tempered glass when the gunshot round struck it. As glass particles rained down on startled customers in the food court, several people on the Mezzanine level screamed in pain and fell to the floor, struck either by shotgun pellets or flying glass. When the man lowered the shotgun, leaving it dangling from the strap over his shoulder, and prepared to fire the automatic rifle into the stunned crowd in the food court, she reacted. She had been taught.

Bracing her left shoulder against the wall at the opening of the hallway to the food court, she took aim from twenty feet away and fired three perfectly grouped shots below his body armor, into the man’s groin area. She heard the bullet casings clinking on the tile floor after each shot but ignored them as she watched the shooter fall immediately to his knees, dropping the assault rifle to the floor. As he bent over in agonizing pain, the strap of the shotgun slid down his arm, but he ignored it. She strolled quickly over to the man and kicked the automatic rifle out of his reach. She had been taught.

Keeping her back to the food court and the security camera that she knew was there, she pulled on the strap of the shotgun until the man’s arm moved enough for her to extract it completely. She slid it out of his reach as well before finally gazing into the man’s eyes. She knew that all he would be able to see in the reflection of her sunglasses would be his own eyes and the pool of blood that was spreading out beneath him. While the bullets from a P380 automatic were not as large as those from a nine-millimeter, three hollow points in the area where she had aimed would almost certainly hit the Femoral artery. Her aim had been true, and the results were evident. She had been taught.

His eyes were losing focus as the life drained out of his body. She stepped away from the spreading pool of blood, placed her pistol back into her purse, and walked quickly through the glass exit doors to the parking lot. Without hesitating at the sound of rapidly approaching sirens, she located her car, slid into the driver’s seat, backed out of her spot, and headed for the mall exit. She would be clear of the scene before anyone could get a description of her. She had been taught.

 

[Priscilla_June]

So I am writing a new story, first chapter of the series. Its sci/fi/fantasy and the idea of its first chapter is the main character through his interactions with doctors and teachers is learning in ins and outs of the state of the post-apocalyptic world, its lass, rules and expectations around sex, and his place in society as a breeder.

I am feeling wary with how much exposition im placing in the story. However, its necessary since it informs the reader as to what is going to happen on this adventure hut also the character in His development.

Most of this exposition is being done in the form dialog. Learning the characters thoughts about the world and rules as they are being taught to him. So i am hoping thats less arduous.

But, I’d appreciate some wisdom in such a literary situation as well.

 

[TheLobster]

So I am writing a new story, first chapter of the series. Its sci/fi/fantasy and the idea of its first chapter is the main character through his interactions with doctors and teachers is learning in ins and outs of the state of the post-apocalyptic world, its lass, rules and expectations around sex, and his place in society as a breeder.

That's always a fun theme. I may or may not have a futuristic breeder story somewhere up my sleeve, too

I am feeling wary with how much exposition im placing in the story. However, its necessary since it informs the reader as to what is going to happen on this adventure hut also the character in His development.

Most of this exposition is being done in the form dialog. Learning the characters thoughts about the world and rules as they are being taught to him. So i am hoping thats less arduous.

Anything like this is better than a straight infodump that takes the reader out of the narrative completely. A character that's an audience surrogate and needs to have things explained to him is a very common technique that tends to work very well. Bonus points for him being the MC, as it seems to be in your case.

But, I’d appreciate some wisdom in such a literary situation as well.

Since it's gonna be a dialogue, try to avoid straight question/answer exchanges; it will lampshade the fact that this is really meant primarily for exposition. The better you can orchestrate segues between topics, the less it will feel like a lecture. Maybe add some unexpected classroom incidents? Turn it into a field trip? Have the doctor explain things but in a way that relates to MC's health? Make some of the dialogue less obvious but add small, sneaky bits of narrator voice that fills in the blanks?

Lots of options here, really. I normally do exposition the other way around (narration-driven, but interspersed with light action and dialogue), so I cannot exactly speak from experience, but this is what I'd try if I were to do it this way.

 

[Britva415]

So I am writing a new story, first chapter of the series. Its sci/fi/fantasy and the idea of its first chapter is the main character through his interactions with doctors and teachers is learning in ins and outs of the state of the post-apocalyptic world, its lass, rules and expectations around sex, and his place in society as a breeder.

I am feeling wary with how much exposition im placing in the story. However, its necessary since it informs the reader as to what is going to happen on this adventure hut also the character in His development.

Most of this exposition is being done in the form dialog. Learning the characters thoughts about the world and rules as they are being taught to him. So i am hoping thats less arduous.

But, I’d appreciate some wisdom in such a literary situation as well.

This exposition is necessary because of how the setting or background info drives the story, right? Like, all the information which is revealed in the exposition is there because it's some bit of information which will affect, influence or force how a character copes with it in some way, right?

So, one way to get away from large infodumps and closer to exposition-by-plot is to not reveal those details until the moment when the particular detail's existence affects someone. Their choice, or their present circumstance, or their constraints.

The idea is to reveal it at the moment it's important to do so. A nice side effect of this is that it will be more memorable. If there's a huge infodump early in the story, readers might remember the details so poorly that you have to remind them of one at the moment it becomes relevant anyway!

I think writing out blocks of exposition in an early draft can be helpful, but most or even all of it can be deleted later as one writes and revises. All the worldbuilding or backstory details should touch the plot at some point or another. When one does, one can go back to the early exposition, and delete it from there. If there's anything left after the end of the story, then those are details which didn't touch the plot and really don't need to be there at all, so, the rest of those can be deleted from the exposition block or the infodump too.

 

[Priscilla_June]

That's always a fun theme. I may or may not have a futuristic breeder story somewhere up my sleeve, too


Anything like this is better than a straight infodump that takes the reader out of the narrative completely. A character that's an audience surrogate and needs to have things explained to him is a very common technique that tends to work very well. Bonus points for him being the MC, as it seems to be in your case.


Since it's gonna be a dialogue, try to avoid straight question/answer exchanges; it will lampshade the fact that this is really meant primarily for exposition. The better you can orchestrate segues between topics, the less it will feel like a lecture. Maybe add some unexpected classroom incidents? Turn it into a field trip? Have the doctor explain things but in a way that relates to MC's health? Make some of the dialogue less obvious but add small, sneaky bits of narrator voice that fills in the blanks?

Lots of options here, really. I normally do exposition the other way around (narration-driven, but interspersed with light action and dialogue), so I cannot exactly speak from experience, but this is what I'd try if I were to do it this way.

Narration driven is deff something I have not tried, I prob need to look into that as a style. I feel like, in the 3rd person, I typically do such through the thoughts/feelings/memories of the characters within.

This exposition is necessary because of how the setting or background info drives the story, right? Like, all the information which is revealed in the exposition is there because it's some bit of information which will affect, influence or force how a character copes with it in some way, right?

So, one way to get away from large infodumps and closer to exposition-by-plot is to not reveal those details until the moment when the particular detail's existence affects someone. Their choice, or their present circumstance, or their constraints.

The idea is to reveal it at the moment it's important to do so. A nice side effect of this is that it will be more memorable. If there's a huge infodump early in the story, readers might remember the details so poorly that you have to remind them of one at the moment it becomes relevant anyway!

I think writing out blocks of exposition in an early draft can be helpful, but most or even all of it can be deleted later as one writes and revises. All the worldbuilding or backstory details should touch the plot at some point or another. When one does, one can go back to the early exposition, and delete it from there. If there's anything left after the end of the story, then those are details which didn't touch the plot and really don't need to be there at all, so, the rest of those can be deleted from the exposition block or the infodump too.

Wow! Your comment brought a lightbulb. So my MC is indeed in a classroom type scenario where I have been going down the path of interactive exposition through questions and answers. BUT through what you said, It occurred to me I can slice out a huge chunk of that and in later chapters where he encounters said scenarios or applicable situations he can RECALL the classroom experience.

Bingo! This is why I come to AH :3

 

[MyBareTorso]

The right way to do exposition, in my humble opinion, is to work it into the story in pieces, artfully, as economically as possible, and only to the degree necessary to tell the story.

If you HAVE TO do significant exposition, try to do it in the form of a dialogue, or multiple dialogues, where one character is telling the other something he doesn't know.

Example: Fellowship of the Ring. It does not start out with a long background about the ring. It starts with Bilbo's birthday party, and what will be his farewell from the Shire. The exposition doesn't happen until after a time jump of many years, when Gandalf visits Frodo and finally reveals to him the identity of the Ring. That chapter really stretched things, because it was a long exposition, but it was an interesting enough story, and it was told as one character telling the main character what was going on. There was more exposition later during the Council of Elrond chapter, which, once again, consisted of some characters telling other characters things that they did not know. If you've seen the movie, you'll know that the scene was reduced even further, without, I think, hurting the drama. Readers don't need as much exposition as some might think they do.

Or think about Raiders of the Lost Ark. It started with an action scene that brilliantly established the character of Indiana Jones. Only in the NEXT scene was the exposition provided, and it was cleverly done by having 2 separate sets of 2 characters revealing to the other set of 2 things that they did not know. If the movie had started with an exposition about the Ark of the Covenant, it would have fallen flat.

I think it's rare in an erotic story that you need to start with much exposition. I rarely read erotic stories that begin well with a lot of exposition. You should start with a sexy scene, or idea, or most probably, a character that needs to be established. Weave in the exposition after you've done that.

What he said...