Exposition Issues

(Yes, yes we should.)

Last week, we talked about dialogue, and how to keep your talky characters from talking too much in the final draft. As promised, today we'll focus on the exposition side of things, and how to keep your exposition from seeming too daunting for readers to actually read.

My first suggestion would be: 

Break it up into smaller paragraphs so it doesn't seem so daunting (even if it is).

 

We've all been reading a book and come across an entire page that's only one paragraph. And we've probably all looked at it and wondered if it was actually worth the time to read.

The thing is, when your paragraphs get that big, it's hard for readers to keep their places, and everything gets a little bit jumbled. A lot of readers will actually skip reading that page, even if it has useful information in it, just because of the oversized paragraphs.

The solution is obvious: rearrange your paragraphs, so they're no more than five sentences, and they're short enough to not scare your readers away.

My second suggestion...

Separate it with small lines of dialogue, while not necessarily following up on the dialogue for a few more paragraphs. 

 

This is an easy way to help readers find their places amidst the mass of exposition. Have a character ask a rhetorical question, have one say something stupid that no one really feels like answering, just so your reader has something to look at and something to help them remember there are still
characters in this piece.

Remember, there's no need to follow up dialogue on the very next line. Readers are smart enough to know there are pauses in conversations, and that some people do actually think before they speak.

Lastly...

Don't over describe: let your audience do the thinking. 

 

A lot of writers have issues with this. We describe everything so thoroughly that the audience doesn't really get to put their own imagination into it.

Yes, sometimes this can be a good thing.

However, most of the time it's just annoying and it will keep your readers from reading your piece, because you've done all the thinking for them. Like it or not, believe it or not, people read to think, to imagine, and if you take that away from them, you've taken all the fun out.

The key is to find that happy medium between description and understatement...

But we'll discuss that another time. :-)

Thanks for reading!

Did you all enjoy the blood moon the other night? I have to say, it was pretty awesome.

{RD}