![]() Of course, we know that it’s preferable to show versus tell. Frequently this description is followed immediately by action or dialogue-action or dialogue that reads as redundant because it shows the same information that has just been told. While this is all very useful information, it also often precedes the action of the scene in which they’ve appeared. ![]() ![]() When introducing characters for the first time, authors often describe the character-not only in terms of physical appearance, but also characteristics, personality, and perhaps history with our protagonist. There’s another form of hidden exposition that is less severe, but also more common. Though of course it depends on the story, often it’s not necessary to go in-depth on how the status quo came to be. If the action you’re writing precedes the chain of cause and effect that develops plot and conflict-and if it carries on for multiple chapters-then there’s a pretty good chance it’s actually exposition.Īnd remember as well: Your status quo is a starting point. This causation defines rising action, which encompasses the majority of a narrative developing toward a climax.Beginning with that inciting incident, a story is built upon cause and effect, each plot beat the effect of what precedes it and the cause of what follows.A story begins with an inciting incident that disrupts a character’s status quo.So how do we avoid this sort of hidden exposition? The key is remembering what a story really is: The author was savvy enough to avoid obvious exposition, but because the new action preceded the obvious inciting incident, it still read in the end as exposition. The reason was exactly the same: In setting up the status quo with which the story begins, she wrote backwards and added numerous chapters and scenes. I worked with another talented author a few years ago who wrote a romance in which the romantic pairing doesn’t even meet until after page 70. We simply received more information.Īs a book editor, I’ve seen this before. We never established developing narrative on the basis of cause and effect. This new content, though, was never incorporated into the narrative structure. ![]() So she started writing backwards, adding more and more information before the story. The author from the start had a story she wanted to tell-but she also wanted to explain how the status quo with which we begin came to be. It’s important to consider how this happened. So in terms of narrative function, all of this was exposition-just exposition in the form of scenes. There was no developing conflict or building narrative. Nothing before that was actually the story. That means that our inciting incident-the plot beat that sets into motion the chain of cause and effect we call rising action-didn’t come until very late. But these latter characters weren’t introduced until more than 150 pages into the manuscript. The primary action focused on the protagonist’s interactions with a strange new arrival while struggling with a dangerous enemy. How is that possible? Well, the answer is in what story the novel actually meant to tell. Yet in execution, it was actually exposition. Later scenes had her interacting with a fairy and exploring a fantasy world. The first scene had the protagonist in her garden in the aftermath of an uncomfortable confrontation with her parents. Recently, I edited a young adult fantasy novel that focused on scenes and action from the very start. So what is this hidden exposition and how do we find it? In the second part of our four-part series on nailing the opening pages, we’re going to determine exactly that. For that reason, it’s possible to run into the trap of exposition even when you do start with action-because some action is exposition in disguise. In my time as a book editor, I’ve discovered that some exposition is subtler and harder to find. That’s why we focused the first part of this series on beginning instead with action-because scene and story are often the opposite of exposition.īut not all exposition is as obvious as an info-dump. Most exposition comes in the form of explanation or back story-often a dump of information (aka an “info dump”) that, though intended to help readers understand the story, actually keeps them from the story you’re trying to tell. And one of the biggest pitfalls in the opening pages of a novel or memoir is exposition. One of the most common questions novelists have is how to improve your first chapter.
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