This means sharing important details like your magical or technological systems, any political structures that influence the plot, and any cultural or societal stigmas that will have an impact on your characters and the choices that they make. If you’re setting your book in a landscape that’s unfamiliar to the average reader-things like fantasy, science fiction, and historical fiction-you’ll want to tell them as much as they need to understand your story’s world and why things happen there the way they do. Others, particularly genre fiction, will need a lot more. Some stories, especially shorter ones, will need very little expository writing for the reader to understand what’s happening in front of them. Unfortunately, this won’t be the same every time-that would make our job too easy! The key is to include only as much background information as the reader needs to follow the plot. Too little, and your readers won’t know what’s going on. Using narrative exposition is a double-edged sword: too much, and your novel gets bogged down with extraneous information. How much exposition does your story need? It’s up to you to decide how much background information your reader needs to get oriented in your world and how much to withhold. In the above example, you might tell the reader that the woman has just been divorced at the start of your story, but you might choose not to reveal the reason for the divorce until closer to the end. However, exposition can happen at any time. This is because most of the time, you need to try and get this necessary background information to your reader early on in the first chapter so that they can follow along with the rest of the plot. In the classic story structure Freytag’s pyramid, exposition is listed as the very first stage of the plot. These background details helps the reader understand the character’s thoughts and choices later on. It’s something that isn’t actually happening in the plot, but that’s important for the reader to know.
This can be about your characters, the setting, important plot points, or historically significant events that contribute to your story.įor example, if your protagonist is a recently divorced woman, telling or showing the reader what led to the divorce before your book began is exposition. What is exposition in writing?Įxposition is a literary device that communicates key background information to your reader.
EXPOSITION EXAMPLE HOW TO
It’s no exaggeration to say that managing exposition is one of the most difficult skills in writing-even experienced novelists often need a pumped-up playlist and an extra-strong cup of tea when tackling this precarious, necessary evil of storytelling.īut what is exposition, exactly, and how can you find the perfect balance? Let’s explore how to convey exposition in the best possible way to take your writing to the next level. Exposition that’s used poorly, however, can drag down a brilliant idea and turn it into something unreadable. Exposition that’s artfully placed throughout the narrative with just the right balance of discovery and suspense can elevate an average novel or short story into a bestseller.
Exposition in writing can make or break a story.
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