People say setting, character, and plot are the three main aspects of stories, but I want to point out the ugly stepsister in the corner. Exposition. It gets a bad reputation in the writing world, and that’s because most don’t do it the right. Exposition is the explanations inserted into the text to provide readers with intellectual information they need to understand the story. It can be how the magic system works, what a person’s job is like, or how a space ship can travel lightyears away. These can all be interesting things to learn, but only if done in a way that intrigues the average person. Let’s look at three ways to insert exposition while keeping readers entranced in the story.
1. Appeal To The Senses
The first way to make exposition interesting is to include sensory details so the reader can imagine it. If you need to explain how magic works in your story, do it through a character. You can have a person learning magic for the first time, or show an experienced person using it. Tell us how it feels (both physically and emotionally). Does it have a taste? A sound? If you can put the readers in the character’s shoes while explaining how it works, the reader will miss that it’s an information dump and instead find the thrill of using magic through the character’s perspective.
2. Hint At More To Come
This is one of my favorite ways to sneak in exposition or character backstory. You drop little crumbs throughout the book until it all compiles into a full meal at the end. Instead of telling the reader about your character’s past in foster care, make just a small remark during a scene.
For instance, Julie can be in the middle of an argument with her coworker when she thinks: “His face turned red as he shouted, two veins in his neck bulging much like how her foster dad’s did when she missed curfew.” That’s all you need to move along the story. The reader not only knows she was in foster care but a rebellious child too. Keep dropping hints as you progress in the story, and the readers will piece it all together themselves. It makes the exposition seem more like a mystery to solve, and it comes in bite-sized snippets so no one gets bored or thrown out of the story.
3. Surround It With Tension
I recently discovered this technique in a book I finished. The series has a very complex political plot which comes with a lot of boring history lessons (sorry, I never loved history). Despite that, I love the series. I finally figured out how the author could give so much attention to political structure and history while keeping my attention. The exposition is surrounded by plot or character tension.
For instance, one character was badly wounded and needed to stay awake until help arrived. He’s a studious man so the woman with him asked about his political studies. He dove into a huge political argument which I normally would have skipped, except the POV character was interrupting his speech with her own thoughts. While he gave me the lesson I needed for the book’s plot, she was studying his wounds, emotionally reacting to his potential death, and scanning the area for more threats. It was done in such a way that I wanted to read the lesson because of the tension it brought into the scene as the man fought to stay alive. Pure genius writing, if you ask me, and something I’ll definitely use in the future.
Final Thoughts
Exposition is a necessary and good thing to have in your stories, but you need to be careful how you present it. Readers want something that is interesting and keeps them in the story. While some love chunks of text about how the world works, most don’t. Make sure you keep your exposition to small snippets. If you must do a paragraph of exposition, make it short and try to keep it interesting by pulling in the plot or characters. If done well, exposition will only add intrigue to your story.
Thanks for reading!
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