Writing a Novel: Exposition

Technically, all writing is exposition. Writing is simply explaining, describing, or commenting, which is what exposition is. But when we're talking about fiction, exposition is generally used to describe the act of giving the reader the information he or she needs to understand the story. A certain amount of exposition is necessary if you are to avoid confusing your readers, so exposition is a good thing. But filling your entire opening chapter with page after page of exposition is never a good idea.

In film and on stage, exposition tends to happen while characters are eating or drinking. Think of the "bar scene" or the dinner between characters that happens in your favorite movie. The characters sit down, share food and drink, and reveal or work out some important piece of plot that the movie needs to move forward. This works well enough on the stage or screen, but a novel is a different beast entirely.


On stage and screen, you are limited by what you see, but writing is more subtle. This subtly does not easily allow for the sudden dumping of exposition, especially at the beginning of a novel. If you're trying to squeeze in your exposition, your readers will know it. It will appear unnatural and forced. If a character doesn't have reason to think or say a thing, it will stick out and surely break the spell you're trying to weave for your readers.


Fortunately, getting exposition right isn't too difficult if you're writing in third or first person. It should be a relatively simple matter to include relevant facts when they become relevant. If there is a reason for the character to think or say the exposition, then it fits into the story without being noticed.


The problem writers often run into, however, is assuming the reader needs or wants more information than is currently relevant to the story. Don't include a piece of information in Chapter 2 if it's not needed until Chapter 52. Remember that most readers are just like you and I. They are forgetful. They don't always want to flip back and forth. Unless you have a compelling reason to provide a bit of information well before it's needed, don't do it. One of the exceptions to this is a mystery novel. Mystery readers are quite accustomed to a piece of seemingly irrelevant information coming back to haunt your characters.


But in general, you should not force a piece of information before it is naturally revealed by the story. If you are dumping exposition upon your readers, make sure it is invisible. Have a character who is excited or frightened reveal too much. Make sure your characters have a good motivation for thinking or talking about the information you are presenting. And don't do it in your opening chapter. Your opening chapter is for hooking your readers, not confusing them with bits of information they won't need until the end of the story.


For exposition to be seamless, it must be motivated by the facts of the story. There is an element of timing involved, and one of relevancy. Just because you, as the author, feel the information is important doesn't mean it should be presented right at that moment. There must be a reason, or it will feel chunky and out of place.


The best story beginnings aren't filled with a bunch of facts that don't make any sense yet. They are filled with brilliant descriptions, vibrant characters, and unanswered questions. Propel your readers into your story before you start dumping exposition on them. Even if it's necessary exposition.

Writing After a Long Illness

As most people will agree, life isn't always easy. It throws us curve ball after curve ball and doesn't bother to ask us if we're ready to deal with it. And deal with it we do. Until we're given more than we can handle.

Such was the case for me at the end of 2017. I have a chronic illness, so I haven't been well for years, but at the end if 2017 things took a turn for the worse. Doctors discovered a diffuse brain tumour, one they couldn't do a lot about. I couldn't be fixed. I cannot be fixed.

But there were things that could be done to control the symptoms. The tumour is slow growing, very slow, so was not in immediate danger. But it was still impairing my brain activity, still causing it's own set of problems. Without going into the details, it's taken an entire year to get to the point where I can return to work. Return to writing.

As anyone who has been forced on medical leave can attest, returning to work after a long illness is difficult. Beyond difficult. It is never an easy process. But when you're a writer, working from home, there are a whole new set of challenges.

First, it's motivation. I don't have a boss. I don't have someone hanging over me demanding work get done. My editor doesn't care if I work or not. No one does, really. So just sitting at the computer and pounding out some actual words can be a challenge. Forcing creative work is, while not impossible, very difficult.

But once I'm at the computer, ready to write, then what? What words do I write? What story? Where was I in that cruddy novel I was writing more than a year ago? Can I continue with that novel? Start a new novel? What novel? I need an idea and I need it now. Hello...

So, while I wait for that idea to arrive, I'll blog. I have multiple blogs about multiple topics. Dogs, horses, paganism, I write about a lot of things. Maybe I'll get back into the swing of things with some blogging.

Maybe...

Wish me luck!

Writing a Novel: Types of Beginnings

When you first sit down to begin a novel, there are a variety of paths you can take. For the most part, you will have to decide if you're going to start a story with action or with description. Both can be intriguing and have the ability to grab the reader's attention. Generally, the two types of openings can be referred to as character in action or description of setting.


Character in action is exactly what it sounds like. There's a character, and he or she (or it?) is doing something. It doesn't have to be something flashy, though it might be. You could, for example, start your story with a girl witnessing her father's hanging. That's flashy, and appropriate if the story revolves around what the girl witnessed and how it affected her. But you might also start with the girl answering the door to a man who tells her her father has been hung. Less flashy, but just as appropriate if your story has little to do with the hanging and much more to do with the girl. Both are character in action scenarios, but they are very different from each other.


Description of setting is a more subtle way to begin a novel, but it is no less effective. You might begin your novel by exploring the environment that is about to become center stage in your story, but if you do this, the setting must be important. It must mean something either to the story or to the character you're about to meet. If your story begins with a wedding (or a funeral), you might begin my describing the scene before getting to the people. Or someone might be riding in a car, and you describe the setting, typically as it relates to the character and his or her emotions. This can be as intriguing as a character in action opening.


Ultimately, you have to decide which type of opening suits your story best. Writing a novel isn't an exact science, so what works for one story will not necessarily work for another. Don't let anyone tell you that you have to begin with action or that you have to jump into the meat of the story with the first sentence. You must find what serves your tale best.

Writing a Novel: At the Beginning

Beginning a story can be great fun or something akin to torture depending on how you approach it. Some people hold that there are rules for beginning a novel. Don't start with the main character asleep or dreaming. Begin with impact. Grab the reader with the first line or everything is lost. While it is true that you have to hook your audience so they'll keep reading, the stakes aren't quite so high as some would have you believe. But the notion that the first line is all powerful is quite prevalent among novice writers, and leads to some truly ridiculous starts. I've seen fledgling novels that have someone decapitated in the first sentence or works where the first paragraph is so convoluted that it makes very little sense. These are not great ways to start a novel, though they certainly have impact, avoid the dreaded sleeping curse, and they had something happen in the first sentence. But that matters very little in the grand scheme of things.


Instead of focusing on imaginary rules, focus instead on an effective way to tell your story. Perhaps it's not usually a good idea to start a story with the main character sleeping, but I'm doing it in my upcoming novel, Angels' Kiss. Why? Because I need to establish that my main character is a novice seer but doesn't know it, and I need to do this quickly. In the world I've created, this particular gift first manifests itself as prophetic dreams before expanding to full visions while the seer is awake. So the quickest and most effective way to convey this information is so start with her asleep and dreaming. It also allows me to foreshadow a great deal of what will happen later in the novel, and it means I can get to the meat of the book with impressive speed. While it may be frowned upon by some, this is best for the story, so the "rules" go out the window.


As for the dreaded impact, making an impression with that terrifying first sentence, well...there is some truth there. You do need to hook your audience fairly quickly. Maybe not in the first sentence, but definitely within the first page. But you don't need to kill anyone, make anything explode, or frighten the wits out of anyone to do it. You just need to start the story in a way that makes people want to keep reading. Ensure the first page makes readers question what's going on, offers some intrigue, or at least is well written enough to prompt most readers to keep reading.


But how do you do this? First, relax a little. The idea that you have to nail your first line is truly a myth. Readers always read past the first line before buying a book. They often read past the first page. Think about how you yourself buy books. You're not an idiot about it. You don't require death and blood and gore on the first page. Neither do your readers. Give them some credit and relax into the story before you start writing. Give the story its due and start in a manner that makes sense for the type of story you're writing.


Don't worry so much about starting with a bang, literally or figuratively. Instead, think about how the reader will orient themselves to the story. When a reader picks up a book for the first time, it's a little like being thrown into the ocean. You don't really know which way is up, and that's not a good feeling. Readers want to feel secure in where they are and what they're doing, so a completely mysterious beginning may make them uncomfortable. Though there are readers who like to be confused, most don't. If you want to appeal to your audience, use your first paragraph--or first page--to help your readers find their way. Answer a few questions. Who is the story about? Where is this person? What are they doing?


In the opening paragraphs of Angels' Kiss, I establish all these things. Sorcha is a young lady in bed, dreaming a fascinating dream. This, of course, poses several other questions, which is what the "hook" actually is. It's not the first words on the page. It's the promise offered by the first words on the page. The questions that arise are what prompt the reader to continue. When you run out of questions to answer, your story is over, so the beginning must absolutely ask and answer at least a few of these. How you do this is really up to you.


The point is this: your readers can be hooked in any number of ways. You don't need to get ridiculous about it, you don't need to be too clever, and you really don't need to stress too much over it. If the first page of your story answers a few questions, and poses a few more, your readers will keep reading. But if you try too hard to intrigue or shock, that alone will turn readers off. Let the story flow naturally, especially at first. If you need to tweak your beginning sequence a little later, you can always do that. It's paper (or a computer screen), not stone.