Exposing Yourself – Exposition in Writing

What Is Exposition

Exposition is a literary term that means ‘background information’ about your characters and setting that your readers need to know about.

Exposition is one of the four rhetorical modes of discourse identified by two American literary critics, Cleanth Brooks and Robert Penn Warren (the others are 1. argument; 2. description; and 3. persuasion). In a book penned by Jonathan S Cullick, he criticises Brooks and Warren’s methodology of new criticism and the uses of rhetorical modes in The Fundamentals of Good Writing. A rhetorical mode is how we use language to communicate, to convey meaning. Exposition is a tool that help authors give readers information about characters and settings in the story. This just means all the things that happens before the story starts.

Was the above an info-dump? Did I expose too much by giving you the background information on what exposition is, who had identified it, what the other rhetorical modes are, and who had critiqued it? Did you need to know all this background information to understand the what, why and how of expository writing?

Why Do We Need Exposition?

A story doesn’t exist in a vacuum. The characters all have backstories, like people in real life. Your main character’s behaviour will be influenced by events that took place in the past as will your minor or supporting characters. And the setting of a story is not without history, either.

Do I need to Tell Them Everything?

Nobody likes TMI! Too Much Information can be detrimental, as many of us know. It can bore your readers to tears. Remember that the amount of information you share has to be directly proportional to the importance of your character.

Exposition can also be used to make your setting more interesting, adding depth to it. In many novels, the setting can sometimes be a character.

How Can I Use Exposition Well?

You can use exposition anywhere in your story. Here are some examples of how to do it:

• Description
• Flashback
• Inner dialogue
• Dialogue.

This doesn’t have to be in the same order. Just use a bit of everything listed above to make your writing pop and keep the attention of your readers.

It’s good to know that exposition must be used wisely. Choose your moment well. A good piece of exposition is a combination of the right amount at the right time and place in the novel.

As a Story Consultant, I am often asked to give manuscript assessments. This means that I’ve read many drafts of stories that tell me when an author has gone OTT with exposition. No reader likes an information dump. Drips and drabs, a little here and there, that’s how readers are receptive of information.

Some Examples of Good Exposition

1. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, chapter one, paragraph three.
2. Cat’s Eye, Margaret Atwood, page 13.
3. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott, chapter one, paragraph four.

What To Do In Order Not to Expose Yourself Too Much?

The best way is to read, read, read. Ask yourself, when an expository paragraph makes your heart flutter and raises some goosebumps, why this paragraph is so well written, and how it gives you just enough information to turn the page. Good writing tends to do this to me!