Why Stories Work

Exposition is information that explains or describes:

• Backstory -- She took in a stray kitten when she was twelve.
• Characters -- She had blond hair and flashing green eyes that could stop any man in his tracks.
• Conflict -- She loved Jack, but she hated cats and he lived with twenty of them.
• Psychology -- She was a soulful young woman, full of melancholy moods and capable of holding a grudge.
• Relationships -- Jack had dated her sister last year, until they had a big fight and hadn't spoken to each other since.
• Setting -- She lived on a Southern plantation that nudged the river.
• Tone -- It was a dark and creepy night, with an old moon that had seen too many hearts broken on the riverbank.

Exposition is necessary for the reader to understand what's going on. It provides context to actions and events. However, it isn't self-revelatory to the reader through what's happening now in the story. That's precisely why exposition, written like the examples above, stops a story dead. It's the writer telling the reader everything, instead of showing the reader just enough to piece the puzzle together on her own, which is far more fun and engaging.

Exposition is told not shown, and therefore to be generally avoided. But the information it conveys cannot be avoided and the story still make sense. The trick is to translate exposition from the static past into the dynamic present.

But first, how much information is too much?

(To be continued…)