How Does Exposition Work?

AKA 9
Common Exposition Qs Answered
By Lucy V Hay

I’ve been talking a lot recently with Bang2writers about exposition and its place
within their stories, whether novel or screenplay. As I’ve heard some common
misconceptions, I thought it useful to put exposition under the microscope and really
consider WHAT exposition is and HOW we can use it, framed as questions to answer.
Enjoy!

1) Isn’t exposition a **bad** thing?

No. Exposition in all stories – whether novels or screenplays (or something else) – is
100% necessary. Exposition is basically just the background information a reader or
viewer needs in order to be able to understand the story. However, many spec stories
don’t provide **enough** exposition, so narrative clarity is an issue: the reader or
editor does not know what is going on, exactly – the story is like a jigsaw puzzle, with
various pieces missing. In the same way, something is “missing” in-between the
writer getting the story from his/her head and to the page. Sometimes, this is because
the writer knows more than the reader: this particularly happens in historical-based
works, like novels set in particular wars, or biopics. Like anything in this writing lark,
skilful exposition is about BALANCE. MORE: 5 Ways To Beat Exposition by Jim
Mercurio and Narrative Clarity by Danny Stack

2) So why is “expositional dialogue” a **bad** thing?

Expositional dialogue refers to characters telling the reader or viewer what the writer
thinks we ought to know, for example how the storyworld works or the character’s
place within it. For example:

CHARACTER 1: Hello James, my son-in-law.

CHARACTER 2: Hello Margaret, my mother-in-law. I’ve just come to give you this
letter which will become important later on in the story. Why do you hate me so
much?

CHARACTER 1: I can’t believe you really need to ask, after what happened two
years ago at Christmas when you set the dog on fire and vomited all over Granny.

CHARACTER 2: OMG, when are you going to get over that? I said I was SORRY.

CHARACTER 1: Until you have divorced my daughter I will NEVER be happy.

Okay, the above is massively exaggerated, but you get my point. Dialogue DOES help
a writer to tell the story and/or reveal characters’ motivations and/or worldview, but
only in such a way that it presents said story via the *illusion* of characters “just”
talking. The dialogue should never OVERTLY tell the story – at worst, it becomes like
my example and at best? Your novel or screenplay becomes “dialogue-led” and rather
theatrical, like a play. MORE: 6 Reasons Dialogue Is Your Enemy

3) So if I’m not allowed to tell the story overtly via dialogue, how
am I supposed to do it??

Frustratingly, this depends on the story you want to tell, your writer’s voice and the
medium you are using. But given we’re making generalisations, I’ll give it a go:

Novels: Dialogue is obviously an important element of any novel; I’m thinking here
of two of my fave authors Roddy Doyle & Sarah Dessen, who use it to great (and very
different) effect. However, I think most readers would agree character and description
is the ultimate key to “good” novel writing. Whether the psychological or visual is
your *thing* in novel writing though, good characterisation and description is about
ensuring your reader is a part of the storyworld too, rather than simply a “witness”.
MORE: How To Utilise Character & Description

Screenplays: In comparison to novel writing then which can employ many different
devices, screenplays need to be VISUAL. Whilst it’s true some screenwriters are
celebrated for their dialogue, it’s important to remember this is the case because they
are also excellent at all the other stuff TOO. Remember, SCREENplay, not
screenPLAY. However, just as importantly, if we don’t want acres of dialogue? We
don’t want acres of scene description either. Remember, BALANCE! MORE: How
To Make Your Screenplay Visual on the @londonswf blog
4) Surely I set up the world of the story and the characters FIRST?

Whether novel or screenplay, many writers erroneously believe that “Set Up” is about
introducing us to the characters and their storyworld first, THEN plunging us into the
story. No, a million times, no. Readers and audiences are smart and are capable of
decoding story quicker than ever before: they want to be introduced to the characters,
the storyworld AND the actual story (aka “what’s going on”) HAND IN HAND. This
is what industry pros mean when they say “hit the ground running”. Readers and
viewers will not forgive anything less! MORE: 8 Ways To Jumpstart Your
Description (novels) and 10 Questions For Your First 10 Pages (screenplays).

5) If I’m writing a mystery or have a big reveal, don’t I leave

No. “Backending ” (ooh Matron) everything to the resolution creates what I call
“Scooby Doo” endings, where a character usually has to reveal what’s been going on
with a “summary” of sorts like this:

“This happened … and then this happened … and then you did this … so I did this …
and OMG THIS!”

The above is simply not dramatically satisfying. Solving a mystery should be “step by
step”, not leaving everything hanging (snarf) until the end. MORE: 4 Reasons **That
Moment You Don’t Like** Is NOT A Deus Ex Machina (with thanks to @ellardent)

6) What does Set Up / Pay Off mean?

Put simply, a “Set Up” is a kind of clue to what will happen at the end. This is never
more obvious than when we’re dealing with Dramatic Irony in a story – ie. something
happens, or someone does something, which has some kind of direct effect on the
ending *for some reason*. However, you still need to use Set Up/ Pay Off even
without Dramatic Irony, otherwise whatever solution your characters use to get
themselves OUT of the situation will simply come out of the left field and feel like a
CHEAT. To illustrate, in JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH (2008), the
characters have a number of problems in the first half, including nearly killing
themselves via an explosion of magnesium sulphate in the rock surrounding them and
falling through muscovite. In the resolution then, they despatch the dinosaur chasing
them via more muscovite and use the magnesium to create an explosion that propels
them OUT of the volcano. MORE: All About Dramatic Irony

7) Isn’t exposition what the characters know, but the audience

Frequently writers who say this believe they have to “give” the exposition TO the
reader or viewing – and this is bad, as it’s often “spoon feeding”. Generally speaking,
your protagonist will need to go on a journey in your story, so will often NOT know
any more than your intended audience: as s/he learns about the storyworld and the
situation then, the target audience will too. Secondary characters however MAY know
certain things about the storyworld and situation and the protagonist usually has to get
this information FROM them – but don’t make it too “easy”, try and ensure it’s visual
(like in point 3), rather than “just” via talk. MORE: 5 Reasons Dialogue Is Overrated

8) Should I make the exposition **obvious** in say, a single scene

This depends. If you mean you SPLURGE all the background info into one scene or
moment to “fill us in on everything” (aka “Information DUMP”), then NO, absolutely
not. If you mean should you draw attention to IMPORTANT elements of exposition
via a line of dialogue here or there, then YES: go for it, especially when writing a
screenplay. Industry Screenwriters are often asked “Can I get a line for that?” to
ensure certain visuals are not missed by the audience. Again, for illustrative purposes,
consider WAR OF THE WORLDS (2005), important elements of exposition
regarding how the aliens got to Earth are referred to several times, such as when Ray
theorises after the first attack; or he meets the camera crew outside his Ex’s ruined
home and she shows him the video; or when Harlan rants in the basement about
getting back at the creatures. These instances don’t count as “expositional dialogue”
because they’re a) very short moments and b) are “hidden” within what the characters
are DOING. MORE: B2W Resources

9) What is the best way to handle exposition?

This may seem like complicated stuff, but this is the simplest question of all, with the
most straightforward answer:

In small doses, step by step, across the ENTIRE narrative.

That’s all there is to it. Dole it out, piece by piece, giving one thing (so your target
audience can understand what is going on), but holding the rest in reserve, until step
by step towards the resolution, you LITERALLY run out of information to give.
Remember that notion of the jigsaw puzzle: piece by piece!!

Concluding:

When considering exposition’s place in your story and where you should put it, it’s
one of those “how long is a piece of string?” questions, so it’s probably more useful to
think about what NOT to do, which is:

– DON’T think it’s a bad thing (you need it)

– DON’T only use talk (especially in screenplays)

– DON’T forget to set up, so you can pay off

– DON’T keep your target audience “out of the loop”

– DON’T think you have to have it all “upfront” either

– DON’T think you need it all “backended”