FEATURE ARTICLE: The Mechanics of Writing Exposition

 

Exposition, as a fiction-writing mode, may be presented in three ways: by direct narration, through characters, or with expository devices.  Other significant issues for the effective presentation of information include: 

 

QUANTITY

How much information is appropriate?  Too little, and the reader won't fully understand the story, or the story may lack texture.  On the other hand, too much at one time may become what is referred to as an information dump.

 

"There are no hard and fast rules about how long exposition should be," observes Jessica Page Morrell in Between the Lines.  "However, exposition is considered [an exposition dump] when it is so long that it stalls the story, contains information that a reader doesn't necessarily need to know, and is not interwoven into the story."

 

Robert Kernen, in Building Better Plots, notes that "Too much exposition, or too much at one time, can seriously derail a story . . . ."

 

Ansen Dibell, in Plot, advises writers to "Be tough with exposition.  Make each piece justify its inclusion-at all, and at that particular point in the story.  It shouldn't be any longer than it has to be to do its essential work."

 

Janet Evanovich, in How I Write, sums it up: "Keep your exposition as short and lively as you can."

 

SELECTION OF INFORMATION

Since the quantity of information is limited, the question arises as to which information should be included. 

 

"Limit exposition to the absolute essentials," recommends Ansen Dibell.  "Important things.  Not everything!"

 

Regarding the technical information that has become so important in some genres, Dibell points out that "Specialist detail comes under the heading, "If you've got it, flaunt it! with just the recognition that flaunting doesn't involve letting it bury the story in footnotes."

 

TIMING

When is the right time to introduce new information into a story?  According to Nancy Kress (Writer's Digest, May 2005), "Hold off on including exposition until the storyline makes it relevant."

 

 ". . . readers are only interested in explanation after their curiosity has already been aroused by something in need of explaining," says Ansen Dibell.  "Only important things, important to understand and present this story, right now, should be explained."

 

EXPOSITION IN SCENES

In fiction, a scene is a unit of drama: a character attempts to achieve his goal but is thwarted (most of the time).  

 

Ansen Dibell advises that "If you can, build [information] right into the scene. If it's important that the protagonist has been married before, invent some prop (a belated birthday card from an exspouse? A final divorce decree in the mailbox?) . . .that shows the fact without your having to say a word directly.  Try to make each of your scenes multi-purpose: introducing or developing characters, moving the plot, and establishing immediately needed background, all at once."

 

"That has the advantage of keeping the story rolling while the exposition is going on," states Dibell.  "It's not as severe an interruption as it would have been if it were cast as objective narration, the disembodied author/narrator telling the reader directly."

 

The amount of information presented in a scene may vary from incidental to scenes built almost entirely around information.  Think of the importance of information in novels such as Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code and Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park.

 

EXPOSITION IN SEQUELS

As outlined by Jack M. Bickham, in Scene & Structure, a prototype scene ends with the success or failure of the protagonist's effort to achieve his goal.  A sequel is what follows a scene and typically involves the stages of emotion, thinking, and evaluation.  The proximity of emotion and thinking make sequels fertile ground for presenting information.    

 

Nancy Kress (Writer's Digest, May 2005), describes it as " . . . having your protagonist ruminate [about the information] . . ."

 

Ansen Dibell appreciates the link of information and emotion when he explains that ". . . we tend to remember best the information that comes to us surrounded by highly charged emotion.  That's why so many people can remember precisely where they were and what they were doing when they first learned of the assassination of President Kennedy and how they spent their first date.  Applied to exposition, this means that otherwise undigestible chunks of explanation will move faster, and be absorbed more easily, if they're put in a highly emotional context.  If you position the information in such a way that it has a strong and immediate emotional impact on somebody . . . it will become . . . hardly exposition at all."  Dibell suggests that writers dip exposition in emotion whenever possible.

 

DISGUISED EXPOSITION

Jessica Page Morrell recommends that exposition be ". . . interwoven into the story." 

 

Regarding exposition Ansen Dibell, in Plot, advises that writers:

 

As noted in Writing A-Z, edited by Kirk Polking, "Writers skilled at this technique insert exposition subtly, so that the reader or viewer doesn't recognize it as exposition."

 

Jordan E. Rosenfeld sums it up beautifully: ". . . information is best served like food in a fancy French restaurant -- in small, elegantly presented courses that neither stuffs the reader, nor leaves him overly hungry."