All About the Details: How Good Exposition Changes Everything

Exposition is a precarious subject when it comes to writing. There will always be the age old argument among writers about what stands as good exposition as opposed to what doesn’t. Honestly, I’m just sick of the whole dispute to begin with. I think writing should be fluid yet always keeping in mind the reader (the audience) and their mental state at each point in time throughout your novel, essay, memoir, autobiography etc.

There’s intricate exposition and then their’s the info dump, and readers hate the latter, I know, but I think there’s a time and a place for the info dump but only if it’s good.

An info dump is almost undetectable if it’s made fresh and with fervour that establishes the writer is far from inept. If you’re writing and you’ve come to the decision that a basket load of information needs to be dropped down in the work, do so yes, but make sure it reads quickly, interestingly, engages the reader’s imagination, and takes them to an almost fantastic place.

Every story needs exposition, that’s just the bottom line. Whether it comes the form of a necessary info dump, or written with quite a bit more of sophistication, back story must be told. Without it, conveying your story is hopeless.

I quipped through some tips in the last post, and I’ll quip through another set of tips in this one. See what I did there?

How to Integrate Exposition into the Story by Weaving into the Setting, Action and Dialogue

• We want to show instead of tell. So when it comes to describing the setting, show the character moving through the settings with action in order to avoid the info dump as it relates to the environment. E.g. “Casey punched the floor he needed on the button display of the grey elevator. The cold, hostile air inside nipped at his collar.”

• Give a glimpse into what your characters are from the gate, but without having to tell so much about who they are. You can do this through the art of dialogue. If a character is shy, let the syntax in the way he speaks reflect deep reservation. You heftier, more confident word choices in your dialogue for when a bigger, brighter character speaks.

“There’s intricate exposition and then their’s the info dump, and readers hate the latter, I know, but I think there’s a time and a place for the info dump but only if it’s good.”

Balance is key when it comes to good exposition. If you must go on, go on with your writing but make it new and exciting. If you can be precise, be precise. Ultimately the ability to do this makes you that much better of a writer.