![]() He remembered how it looked when they were first married. He sat on the bed, staring at his wife’s back. In this scene, which happens after an argument, the wife is sitting at her vanity table performing her nightly routine, while the husband watches her from the bed: Instead of chronicling the couple’s entire history that lead to them growing apart, I chose a particular moment to stand in for the history. ![]() In my short story, “Keys,” I wanted to convey how a marriage had changed over 30 years. Tie backstory to a current action or detail. I’ll carry this with me forever.”Įach of the above statements do more than simply report a past event - they expose character. What are some possible reactions to this past event? Here’s a sample, using dialog: It was his fault, and another person was killed. Let’s say sometime before a novel begins a character was in a horrible car accident. Good exposition holds the key to how your characters were affected and molded by the events. Get inside your character’s head.Įxposition should not just stand out there as a way to “fill in the reader,” but rather reveal what’s in a character’s head. If the point of the scene is not clear, rewrite the scene so that it is in service of the story. Ask yourself: Is this a love scene? A scene of betrayal? Insight into the opponent’s motives? The characters’ story should be driving the scene, with exposition taking a back seat. Ask yourself, “What is this scene about?”Įxposition should enhance your story world, not replace it. You must find a way to get this vital information to your readers in a way that won’t lose them. So what to do? Certainly, you don’t want to hang your exposition out to dry like clothes on a line. By its very nature, exposition has already happened, or is merely information. To explain certain technical details that may be necessary to understanding the plot or milieu.īut here’s the rub: exposition is inherently un-dramatic. To give specific details of a time and place with which the reader is not familiar. writers, we need to be able to give backstory, to fill in the blanks, to explain why a character behaves a certain way or believes a certain thing. Diane’s passion for helping authors improve their craft has made her one of the top editors in the field. As editorial director of Write to Sell Your Book she has helped dozens of authors achieve publishing success. Five Tips for Writing Effective Exposition by Diane O’ Connell Diane O’Connell, a former Random House editor, is author of 6 books, including the award-winning The Novel-Maker’s Handbook: The No-Nonsense Guide to Crafting a Marketable Story.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |