question time!!!! - Writers Forum

D4rk_3|f · 10-17-2004, 01:41 AM

I wanted to sart a POST for newbies like myself included and Ill ask a question and all the xperienced writers can help us all out with an answer.

First question.

Define Exposition......

Selorian · 10-17-2004, 02:42 AM

Exposition is information the reader needs to know but it doesn't contribute to the forward momentum of moving the story along.

The below information is from 'The Writer's Writing Guide: Exposition' by Rachel Simon.

Exposition is the background material a reader needs to know for the story to move forward.

It can be done explicitly, in a very direct fashion:

I am a thirty-five-year-old plumber, a single man with a passion for peanuts, police scanners, and women with freckles on their cheeks.

Exposition can also be done indirectly. With indirect exposition, the writer gives the reader the data in subtle but clear ways, thereby allowing the reader to be a partner when it comes to laying the foundation of the story.

"I steal. I've stolen books and money and even letters. Letters are great. I can't tell you the feeling walking down the street with 20 dollars in my purse, stolen earrings in my pocket."

Indirect exposition is essentially a form of compression. It is a sweet way of delivering the necessary medicine of background information. It allows the writer to slip the facts to the reader without the reader even being aware of it happening.

If exposition is delivered directly, it might feel as if it is a block of who, what, when, and where which breaks the flow of a story, or, if it begins the story, delays the action.

It isn't nearly as interesting to read facts as it is to see them in use.

D4rk_3|f · 10-17-2004, 02:45 AM

so are you saying its like telling the story without a narrative concept or using Dialogue for that matter?.

mammamaia · 10-17-2004, 12:10 PM

"so are you saying its like telling the story without a narrative concept or using Dialogue for that matter?."

expository info can be delivered to the reader in all of those ways... you can have a character refer in dialog to events in the past that impact on the plot, or you can give info on events or characters as narration [either from the character's pov or the omniscient observer's]...

a clever writer can find other ways to get data across to the readers without boring them with large blocks of detail... such as having a character read an old letter or see an old newspaper clipping... some use flashbacks to do this...

poor writers will often tack expository bits onto dialog attribution, making an impossibly long, run-on mess... such as:

"Don't do that!" Linda cried, the feel of his hand on her neck bringing back the horrible memory of the night she was attacked and left for dead in the woods.

...something like that can be used to launch into a bit of needed exposition, but it should be detached from the dialog, made into separate sentences... as you can see in this example, it can easily lead into either a flashback scene or expository narration...

it's all 'exposition' in one way or another...

hope this helps... love and hugs, maia

Selorian · 10-17-2004, 02:33 PM

Mammamaia is right, it can be all those things. It is like the examples above that I posted.

In the first one, we are told through the narrative the info of the character. He is male, thirty-five years old, and likes peanuts, police scanners, and women with freckled faces.

In the second example, through the characters dialogue, we find that she is a woman by the use of purse and earrings in the sentence. She straight out tells that she likes to steal, so she is a thief.

In both, the plot isn't necessarily affected by the fact that it is a man or woman, as it will move forward either way. (The story is what would be affected by it being a man or woman though, but that is another subject.)

That basically sums up exposition. It is things that are needed to give us details that are necessary for us to know, but not necessary for the plot to move forward.

Hope that is a little more understandable now. I don't know if it is or not though. I can't find the right way to say it.

D4rk_3|f · 10-17-2004, 04:23 PM

Right I understand now. You guys are gr8.

Next Question....

How does one go about making perfect Dialogue?

River1034 · 10-17-2004, 05:06 PM

I dont think that perfect dialogue is possible. Even the authors that write dialogue best make mistakes. Dialogue is condensed speech, its used to move the story forward and to reveal/develop your character. Dont force your character to speak, he'll speak when he's ready. It's best if your dialogue contains some type of conflict. Someone gave me a good example of this recently, If your in the middle of the room and theres two people in one corner, nodding and smiling and talking to each other, and in the opposite corner there is two people screaming at each other which are you more inclined to listen to? The people screaming, if each person has goals, like a girl wants the boy to like her, but the boy is more interested in another girl then she would be trying to make him like her, but he would be trying to talk about the other girl. It would create conflict. (Broken Fingers said it better when he told me.).
-River

D4rk_3|f · 10-17-2004, 05:09 PM

Youre right River1034 but what are some good steps to take when creating good dialogue.

River1034 · 10-17-2004, 05:22 PM

First remember that every piece of dialogue is essential in developing your character and moving your story forward,
1. Make sure that the piece of dialogue you are writing matches your character's personalities (meaning dont make someone cowardly suggest they go hunt the bad guy, etc.).
2. Write realistic speach, use contractions, some slang, but dont overdo it.
3. Remember the goals of each character and apply them to your dialogue.

Hope this helps.
-River

D4rk_3|f · 10-17-2004, 05:24 PM

Ok. Next question.

Some authors say a writers notebook is a waste of time while others find it an invaluable tool.

As writers what are your opinions?.

River1034 · 10-17-2004, 05:25 PM

what's a writers notebook? lol, if its that good maybe i should get me one? i want someone to answer this question to!

-River

D4rk_3|f · 10-17-2004, 05:30 PM

a writers notebook is a notebook that you jot ideas in when they form in your head. You carry it around with you and whenever you have a spare moment. Write something. Eavesdrop a conversation at a resturant and document it. Look at the dialogue. Could you use this in a book. See how ppl talk and write or describe things you see when youre alone somehwhere.
Do research and keep it in this book.
I use it and find it an invaluable tool when i need something and i had researched before I go back and find it as often we forget these things.

Thats my def of a writers notebook

River1034 · 10-17-2004, 05:31 PM

o, well i already do that... i use a spiral notebook that is inseperable from me. I thought it was like some special notebook that had different sections for character notes, dialogue, etc. Oh well.
Color me stupid i guess.
-River

Chris · 10-17-2004, 06:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by D4rk_3|f

Some authors say a writers notebook is a waste of time while others find it an invaluable tool.

A notebook can do nothing but help. I wholeheartedly reccommend keeping one, if only to jot down ideas, random descriptions, random metaphors, similes, character sketches, plot outlines...whatever. It is hard for me to fathom that anyone would say a notebook is a waste of time, that's just silly.

D4rk_3|f · 10-17-2004, 08:43 PM

one just needs to learn how to catalogue it properly cos if not done so and you remember you documented something and have an array of books who knows how long it will take you to find it