Exposition is where you explain
things to the reader in the text. It’s a necessary part of storytelling to help
the reader understand what’s going on in a story, especially when it comes to
stuff the reader won’t automatically know. The MC might work for a government
department and the reader needs to know what the department does, so you have
to find a way to get that info to them. When handled badly it can read very
clunky.
But there is also another expositional
technique that gives the reader information in a very high impact and emotional
manner. This is where you reveal something that the reader is able to convert
into an understanding of the situation without you having to explain it.
As an example, let’s say Debbie’s
dating Gary, a soldier. He calls her and admits he’s been cheating on her and
has fallen for the other woman and wants to break up with Debbie. Debbie is
obviously livid. She vows to get her own back. Sometime later she bumps into an
old army buddy of Gary’s and decides to sleep with him to spite Gary (this is
fiction—obviously women don’t do this sort of thing in real life). She goes
back to his place and sees a photo of him and his army pals. Gary’s in the
picture. In a wheelchair.
So, the point is she realises the
real reason Gary dumped her wasn’t because he was cheating on her, but it isn’t
spelled out. Exactly how obvious or subtle you handle placing this information in
front of the reader is a matter of personal judgement. In the case of something
like a murder mystery you may not want the ramifications to be clear until much later.
Now, Debbie could have found out
about Gary’s well-meaning deception in a much more direct manner. Her friend
Brenda could have just called up and said: Hey,
you know how you thought Gary was cheating on you? Turns out what actually
happened was... etc.
The effect on Debbie would be
pretty much the same, but the effect on the reader would be far less impactful.
However, even though you don’t want to
spell things out immediately, you do want to go into the details of what this
revelation means to Debbie, both in how she feels and what she does. So her
ringing Brenda after she sees the photo to talk about the effect it had on her
(including how she find out) is not only okay, it’s recommended. Once
the reader has been sideswiped by a sudden realisation, you want to follow up
with a nice big emotional punch in the face.
In order to use this technique in
your own writing all you have to do is find somewhere in your story where a
character discovers some new piece of information and then work out a way for
them to make that discovery visually. Not that you can’t do it through
dialogue, but if you do it through what a character sees, then you can be pretty sure the reader will
draw conclusions in tandem with them.
Bonus points if you know what Cary just figured out. If you found this post useful, please give it a retweet. Cheers.
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20 comments:
Wanted to stop by and say thank you for your recent visit to my blog. I'll have to take a few minutes and check out some of your other posts.
Visual clues are more fun!
Another of your posts I'm going to bookmark to come back to. And of course I know what Cary just figured out. But then, I've seen An Affair to Remember a million times. (estimated count)
@Susanne-you're welcome. Thanks for dropping by.
@alex-if i'd just said that it would've been a much shorter post.
@LD-best road safety PSA ever made.
I know! I know! *author claps hand and jumps up and down* An Affair to Remember. She never meets him because she's struck by a car and crippled. He's just discovered the reason he was stood up. Do I get a prize?
As to exposition, it's great when a character discovers something at the same time the reader does, but it's also exciting when the reader knows something the character doesn't. The whole time he's reading he's urging that character to make the right decisions and, of course, that character doesn't. Great tension opportunities. Love it when you talk exposition!
Yes, yes, this is so true!
You know, I love your posts. I included your blog as one to read for aspiring writers, on a tab over on my blog.
:)
@clee-I imagine all the people that have stood me up over the years had similarly good reasons (that's what I tell myself).
@Lydia-thanks for putting me on your tab.
Excellent explanation!
All recent b-f's have been informed, "If you ever stand me up without calling or texting, there had better be a death in the family. Preferably yours." Love An Affair to Remember.
Great tips for exposition - I tend to share too much in the beginning of a story, to make a character likeable, but I need to find other ways, and save the exposition for the very end. As always, you rock. :-)
@Bish-thanks.
@Beverly-you're very kind.
You always have great information here, and now you're hosting another site? Don't know how you keep up! I'd like to see the twist in Gary and Debbie's story where she works hard at winning him back by becoming his friend and showing she'd be there no matter what, only to ultimately find out Gary really is seeing someone else.
And yes, remember the above movie well, well played Moody, well played.
@Charmaine-the other site is a bi-weekly collection of posts on writing from ohter bloggers. More work for them than me.
Thanks for this great writing tip!
I'm always happy to discover a new technique to give my story more layers. Love this, moody! THanks for sharing. :)
Nutschell
www.thewritingnut.com
I'd much rather show than tell, but sometimes you do have to give the reader enough info. so things make sense. As long as it's not spoonfed.
@Julie-YVW
@nutschell-YVM too.
@Jay-as long as it's interesting I think you have lots of leewway.
This is a tricky thing to do well. A writer can be too subtle that the reader doesn't pick up on it. You have to employ beta-readers in order to find out for sure.
@Michael-it's a balancing act for sure, but one that gets easier to judge over time.
Though I am a bit late on this post, I would have hated to miss this post. I loved it. At times I struggle with exposition, now I think I can manage with your tip :)
May Allah flood your life with happiness on this occasion, your heart with love, your soul with spiritual, your mind with wisdom, wishing you a very eid al fitr wishes. Copy. May Allah Almighty bring you happiness, joy, prosperity, and peace on the blessed time.