#EXPOSITION IN A STORY MOVIE#

Rowling provides a detailed exposition.Īfter a couple of paragraphs about the setting and an explanation of who the Dursleys are, Rowling begins to describe more relevant details about the upcoming story: In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, author J.K. Without a clear exposition, a story is less interesting and can be difficult to follow. A clear description of setting and an introduction of characters makes an audience more invested in the story from the beginning. Without exposition, a story will be hard to follow. The purpose of exposition is to make the audience familiar with where, when, and in what waythe character(s) are experiencing the story. What is Exposition?Įxposition is usually found in the first paragraphs of a story. Have fun experimenting with different ways to reveal the facts about your characters and showcase the world of your story.Exposition is a literary term that introduces necessary information about events, setting, characters, and other elements that are necessary to an audience’s ability to fully comprehend a story.Įxposition gives audience basic information at the beginning of a story so that they have a context in which to frame the rest of the narrative. 🙂Īs always, try to strike that balance, and remember that this might change from one story to the next.

Trust that they’re picking up facts, remembering details and reading between the lines. Know that you don’t have to spell everything out for them in order for them to get it they’re likely reading closely, as you are. This is important-as the author, you have the power, but let’s give the readers some credit. It’s all about the action, right? So if you notice that larger swaths of inner monologue, dialogue or narrative are overtaking the scene but not contributing to the plot or conflict, condense it! You don’t want to lose the reader’s interest by slowing down the forward momentum of your story.ĥ. While you want to inform the reader, you might not wish to slow down the action. As McKee writes, “Confident writers parse out exposition, bit by bit, through the entire story you do not keep the audience’s interest by giving it information, but by withholding information.”Ĥ. – secrets!) as you go, to build the reader’s curiosity. Best of all, you can drop hints about the bigger stuff (i.e. Try sticking to the basics first and giving details only as needed. We don’t need to know everything upfront, just the basics to set up the story. Best of all, dialogue can be a good way to cut out lengthy exposition and get to the heart of something with a few well-thought-out lines of back-and-forth.ģ. You can show us a lot about the setting and characters through well-placed, honest and natural-sounding conversations. Sometimes, dialogue can count as telling (are the characters’ lines stilted, unnatural and information-heavy?). It was the only place in town to go for breakfast on Sundays.”Ģ. Your heroine may walk through town thinking, “Goose Bay was a small town,” or she might think, “She should’ve known there’d be a wait at Lester’s Diner. But don’t fall into that trap! Your character can still show with their innermost thoughts and observations.

Sure, it’s your characters’ thoughts, and so it seems natural to use their thought process to tell. Here are our top five tips on making exposition invisible!ġ. Rather than telling the reader what they need to know, show them with genuine scenes that feel organic to the story. One of the keys to that-and you’ve heard it before-is show vs.

#EXPOSITION IN A STORY MOVIE#

Have you ever read a book or watched a movie where you seemed to absorb the world of the story without noticing it? You’re not hit over the head with it, you breathe it in slowly and naturally. He goes on to write, “As the story progresses, the audience absorbs all it needs to know effortlessly, even unconsciously.” This is important info that sets up the story and tells the reader what they need to know.Īs Robert McKee writes in his award-winning book, Story, “Skill in exposition means making it invisible.” That packs a punch. All those details about setting, characterization and the situation. To be specific, exposition is simply the facts. To get everyone motivated for our #RomanceIncludesYou writing blitz, we’re bringing this wonderful post by Katie Gowrie from our Advice from the Archives…įor any writer, exposition is an important aspect of what makes up their story.

Exposition in a story