First draft work on character-driven story: 1) how to know when you’ve explained & exposed enough to complete a scene—can some parts be summarized to sort of give a gist of what’s happening? I’m familiar with the purpose of a scene, but fleshing it out is something else again—leaving some… Read more“Judging when to use or not to use exposition”
Category: Exposition
Expositing
You know, as hard as I’ve tried to get a good understanding of exposition I don’t really have a clue. I’ve begun to think of it as anything that isn’t dialog, action or description. Is that correct?—Jeffrey Russell Pretty much, Jeffrey. In a nutshell. People tend to get confused about… Read more“Expositing”
Differentiating between exposition & dialog
Pointing out during an exposition can be done via a dialogue or whatever?—@so_you_know In 3rd person, is there the same leeway for expository dialogue? Still characters talking, feels different—@Wiswell Now, there are three levels of specific perspective you can employ in telling a story: dialog (“She said that?” Yes, she… Read more“Differentiating between exposition & dialog”
Differentiating between exposition & backstory
Aaaaaaaoooooh in re: expo is a backstory?—@so_you_know Then would backstory be exposition?—@marisabirns Exposition as backstory in film, often flashback scene (dreams, memories, etc.)—@AllInky So an ‘info dump’, however it is done, is not exposition?—@Story_Craft Now, we did have a great conversation about exposition on #storycraft Sunday, and I did go… Read more“Differentiating between exposition & backstory”
Defining exposition
I’m confused as to what novelists mean by ‘exposition’; do they simply mean any narration that isn’t description, whether it imparts information or not? For example, would novelists consider paragraphs of the ‘narrator’ musing on the meaning of the story that we have just read, but adding nothing to the… Read more“Defining exposition”
Striking a good balance
How can I strike a good balance between dialogue, summary, and exposition (used sparingly, I know), and how do you know when is the right time to use each of these in a scene?—Lyn South Here’s your balance: 90% scenes, which contain dialog, action, and description; 10% exposition, which is… Read more“Striking a good balance”