Exposition
What is exposition?
It refers to the process or skill where the author provide important background information to the audience or readers. In simpler terms, inserting important information within the story. It is a way of presenting essential details about characters (eg. characters history, personalities, hobbies, feelings or opinion of another), settings (world background/story introduction) or past/future events in a story which allows the more context and give more insight to the plot/world building (which might be relevant or irrelevant information).
As such the challenge is to how you use/insert it (without interrupting the flow of the story/keep the story going as well). This task needs to deliberately planned, to avoid ‘infodump’ (a writing practice where a large amount of information is presented to the reader all at once, often in a dense and overwhelming manner. This can lead to a break in the narrative flow and disengage readers. Instead of integrating information naturally, it is unloaded in a way that feels forced and unnatural. Too often, it would draw attention away from important clues and the story.
Hence, it’s vital to provide essential information in a balanced and organic manner, ensuring reader engagement doesn’t wane.
There are a few ways to go about it (with examples):
Dialogue – Characters talking about a past event, relationship, or situations which convey important information to the audience. This is a common method of exposition as it feel natural in the context of the story.Narration – The author directly provides information to the readers through the narrative voice, describing the setting, characters, and events in detail.Flashbacks – Scene that depict events that occurred before the main storyline.Descriptive Language – Uses descriptive language to paint a vivid picture of the world, characters, and situations in the story, indirectly conveying important details.Prologues and Introductions – Separate sections at the beginning of the story to set out the essential background information before diving Monologues or Inner Dialogue – Character’s inner thoughts and reflections which reveals their motivations, history, or emotions.Dialogue – “Kathy just got married recently. Did you know?”Narration – Amid city lights, Sarah, an aspiring pianist, faced her fears at the prestigious concert, her heart pounding with anticipation.Flashbacks – Rain-soaked roads, screeching tires, shattered glass—a haunting flashback unveiled the tragic collision, forever etched in my memory. The cold rain pouring down, soaked from head to toe yet the car still burning; feet rooted to the ground. I remembered the cry of sister, calling out to me but still I didn’t move. Not because I can’t, but because I couldn’t.Descriptive Language – On that hospital bed, Clara was looking up at the plain white ceiling with its miniscule cracks that might have been missed out by many but not her since she was stuck on this bed, staring at this particular spot recovering from her car accident which robs all movement other than her eyelids.Prologues and Introductions – Nestled among towering peaks, a distant village thrived, its secrets guarded by nature’s grandeur, a sanctuary untouched by time. (Longer than this, usually would take up few hundred/thousands words, in around one chapter, to set the tone of the story and give a the story a background or explain the world which the character lives in).Monologues or Inner Dialogue – “Watching as my father died in that fire was heartbreaking,” thought Peter as he stared at the picture of his father in his blue shirt which he wore on that day of the accident.Just remember, to ask yourself this, when writing.
Is this necessary for the plot/character progression?Will the readers able to understand without this?Is this information essential at this moment?Is this too long? Should you cut it down into smaller portions?Pace?Too much is a no no and remember to show not tell.
