DISCUSSION: Exposition

[matt0044]

In many fandoms, discussions on the writing of the books, movies or shows in question will often involve guaranteed go-to grievances. Among them, you are more than likely to find “exposition” in the top five at least.

It’s been my observation that these “exposition” problems can often stem from a sort of insecurity in your writing. Have you proper established your setting? Your characters? What if your audience can’t follow what’s happening?

This results in info dumps in the narration itself be it third or first-person in novels. Visual media will have characters monologue stuff that they and others around them should already know. Other times, it’s awkwardly placed in a point of the story where they should’ve already gone over it.

It feels like most are afraid of the “show, don’t tell” mantra and think they’ll get endless complaints of how nothing makes sense. That a bad explanation is better than little-to-none at all.

So... how does one handle these hang-ups?

 

[LightningTopaz]

Rather than setting the scene in one big dump, add exposition details as necessary to the story.

One thing I like to do in my anime remix series is note "It had been a few days since (what happened in the previous episode)," which quickly tells the audience what happened before, and how the characters are dealing with the previous events right now.

 

[Nitro Indigo]

One thing I don't like in fanfics is when they give awkward exposition about the source materials. Some examples include:

• A Pokémon Mystery Dungeon fanfic where the hero asks the partner questions about basic Pokémon terminology in a back and forth in a featureless plain of disembodied dialogue.
• Several Pokémon/My Little Pony crossovers where characters from the former paraphrase Bulbapedia descriptions to characters from the latter, often assuming they have knowledge of things that aren't even everywhere in the Pokémon world (eg: gyms). The one time I've seen this done well is when a Pokémon character starts off with a Bulbapedia-esque description of what a trainer is, but the pony has no idea what he means, so he simplifies by describing trainers as "knights".
• A Harry Potter/Fullmetal Alchemist crossover where Ron explains the Wizarding World to a muggle he just met, and then tries (and fails) to obliviate him.

I think a good way to work in this kind of exposition is for the character to give an opinion. For example, in Moonkind: The Wayward Butterfly, a Pokémon who lived alongside humans didn't know what Pokéballs are (she's from Almia), so a wild Pokémon from Sinnoh explains them in a way that emphasises that he's scared of them.

Spoiler: Here's what I wrote

“What are Pokéballs?” asked Budew. This struck April as odd. How could a Pokémon live alongside humans for pretty much their whole life and not know about Pokéballs? Sure, she was young, but how sheltered was she?

Evidently, Starly was surprised too. “Oh, you lucky thing! Pokéballs are horrible! Some of my flockmates, INCLUDING my parents, always went on and on and on about how it was the greatest honour to be captured by a human, but why? Why would I want to abandon everyone I know and love at a moment’s notice? I’ve seen trainers. They keep you in those balls most of the time, and their Pokémon never want to go back home… I can’t imagine a life like that! I’ve lost some of my closest friends to beginning trainers.” He took a deep breath. “But… if you didn’t have a Pokéball, what did your human keep you in?”

“Nothing,” Budew said matter-of-factly.

I should explore different Pokémon's perspectives of humans again one day.