Hello everyone. I've decided to start a blog, partly because it sounds amusing, and partly because I want to remind myself of everything I should be doing while writing. This blog will dispense whatever sage advice I happen to have to offer, along with the side tangents and other thoughts that come to mind while writing these things. I will have space at the end of each blog for a more condensed version of the advice, for the sake of clarity and really making sure I get all this stuff. I'm still working on making it look pretty, and I probably won't have it super fancy until sometime in January. Let's face it, I'm never going to get around to it.
Exposition
Posted January 9th, 2016 at 7:13 PM by Bardothren
Hello again. For a quick update, I had sushi tonight, and it was tasty. Otherwise, I've just been enjoying my time off before returning to college.
So, as I'm writing this right now, I have no idea what topic I'm going to do. I mentioned doing mood and editing last time. I don't think there's anything else I can say about mood, so I'll let that one go. As for editing... it's tempting, but I'll probably wait a bit longer.
Instead, I think I'll do one on world-building. It's one of the big broad concepts I haven't touched yet, so I might as well. Plus, I've had exposition on the brain for a little while.
So, before I tell you how to do exposition, I'll tell you how not to do exposition. Have you ever watched a crummy anime and thought 'gee, how convenient it is that they're laying out all the world details for me in a bit of narration or dialogue' or 'the character is only saying this so I can keep up'. Even Kill la Kill's guilty of this storytelling shortcut (the explanation on Goku uniforms, for example); however, it has such a wacky, over-the-top tone that the convenient exposition can be dismissed.
Now, what forms can crappy exposition come in? There's narration: having some character lay out all the facts. World Trigger's guilty of it every freaking episode, RWBY did it, the Pokemon anime did it, and plenty others I'm not thinking of right now and many more I've never seen. If you start your story with "here's how the world works!" or "this is who my character is!" then I have a news flash for you: you're doing it wrong. Now, I'm a firm believer in the idea that there are no concrete rules to writing, just good guidelines to follow (Pirates anyone?) That being said, unless you're William Shakespeare magicked out of the grave, you probably don't have the skill to make a bare-bones narration of that sort seem anything other than heavy-handed.
There's also dialogue. I've seen time and time again in anime where, for no particular reason, a character starts spouting facts at other characters. This is especially bad when the other character knows exactly what they're talking about. This method often forgets that these characters are part of a society filled with these ideas - imagine for example an anime about modern life with one of the characters explaining cellphones to another cellphone-carrying character. It seems plain stupid, doesn't it? The same applies for character-building; having characters gossip in the background about 'that guy' seems too convenient and not that realistic - the gossip mill doesn't go on about the same guy forever, y'know.
And there's internal narration as well: what a character's thinking. No person is actively muse to themselves how a cellphone works and how it connects people. In a similar manner, no character is going to give a great deal of thought about any other mundane part of their world.
Okay, so how do you do exposition? Let's look at Fullmetal Alchemist (the original, since Brotherhood doesn't handle the beginning as well) and examine how they offer world-building details. For the sake of this, I actually rewatched it so I could provide specific examples.
The show starts off with Ed and Al, in their childhood, trying to resurrect mom. Do they explain Alchemy? Nope, not a word. No narration, no cheesy dialogue. A hint of danger is given by Ed telling Al 'not to be scared' - that's all you need to know that they're doing something risky.
Okay, wait, I take it back. They do explain it. Well... let's examine how they do it. The narration works in tandem with the Alchemy; it doesn't distract from the flow of events happening in that moment. It lasts about forty-five seconds, pausing for other characters to make brief entrances. Mustang in particular, a silent figure staring at the action, builds intrigue.
Once the ominous exposition's over, it cuts back to the action. Pain, regret, loss - then we learn what he was trying to do through one word: "mother". That's all it takes to explain what the brothers were trying to do.
Then it cuts to four years later. It doesn't explicitly say this - it leaves the audience wondering about what they're doing. Then we get the first surprise - Ed looks for Al, then we find Al's a suit of armor. This detail, mixed with an image of the armor from the initial scene, tells us Al's a suit of armor from the lab, and the viewer is able to piece together a lot of info from that one tidbit.
Then there's some additional details that come up in conversation between Al and the people of Liore - dialogue that seems natural because they're foreign people in a distant city with less information of the outside world.
I could go on more, but that would be losing track of the point. The point is the example: they use both dialogue and narration to get the world-building done, so why does it work here while it falls flat almost everywhere else? The answer lies in how it's done. The narration is short and mixed with an exciting, mysterious scene of arcane images and swirling lights. This isn't a style readily conveyed in writing, since you're either forced to pick and choose what you say or heavily dilute your details with exposition, both of which weaken your writing. Every word is precious; unlike anime, books and short stories don't have the luxury of using images in tandem with words to convey information.
So, let's look at the dialogue. The conversation doesn't start with "this is how Alchemy works" or "this is what's so great about our country." Instead, the dialogue starts with the more natural point of "you're not from around here" and works its way to the exposition through more natural means - the breaking of the radio.
Another neat trick: DON'T EXPLAIN SOME STUFF. Do they explain Ed's ability to transmute without a circle off the bat? At first, you think they do, with the pocketwatch, but nope. Ed doesn't need it. Why? Tough break, we're not telling you until later. This enticing bit of withheld information leaves the reader curious for more. Of course, you can't leave the reader too uninformed. Imagine if they never explained how Alchemy worked - you'd be lost and confused by their apparently arbitrary set of abilities and lack of rules. While everything isn't laid out for you, the rule of equivalent exchange and the image of a transmutation circle puts guidelines on this power and allows the viewer to understand the power's limits.
Okay, let's wrap this up with a summary, since I'm getting tired and still want to work on Darkness some more.
So, study the b-list anime and critique it. What do they do wrong? How would you improve upon it? Learn to spot the flaws in their work, and you will hopefully learn to spot the flaws in your own.
So, don't be blunt about it. Let the exposition come through action if you can, dialogue if the action needs help, and narration only if you have to. Be subtle, and keep in mind that the characters will know the basics about your world and feel no need to explain them to another member of their society. And don't be afraid to keep the reader in the dark about some pieces of information. As much as I hate self-referencing, I feel this is one of my stronger points. Does Through the Scope explain why there are pokemon, or that the village depends on hunting for its survival? It comes up through character action and dialogue - never narration. Or Communication, by Sike Saner - let's use that one. Does it explain why snorunt are feared by other pokemon? Not right away - Solonn's mother explains it to him after the fact. The fear is first shown by the sealeo's reaction and leaves the reader to ponder over why this is so.
And... I stopped summarizing. Let's get back on track here and close with the big questions.
Does my exposition add to or subtract from the action in the moment?
Would my character ever say this to this person/their self?
Does the reader need to know what this is about, or should I leave them wondering?
Does my reader need to know this NOW? Or is this something that won't pop up for another long while? LotR is an excellent series to study for exposition, and world-building in general, and I can't recommend it enough. Er-hem, moving on.
How much should I tell the reader? Can I condense these facts into an even simpler version? Can I fit these facts into subtle details?
I'd go over the same questions when reading/watching other work to see what they do right/wrong. So, until next time people, stay salty.
So, as I'm writing this right now, I have no idea what topic I'm going to do. I mentioned doing mood and editing last time. I don't think there's anything else I can say about mood, so I'll let that one go. As for editing... it's tempting, but I'll probably wait a bit longer.
Instead, I think I'll do one on world-building. It's one of the big broad concepts I haven't touched yet, so I might as well. Plus, I've had exposition on the brain for a little while.
Exposition
So, before I tell you how to do exposition, I'll tell you how not to do exposition. Have you ever watched a crummy anime and thought 'gee, how convenient it is that they're laying out all the world details for me in a bit of narration or dialogue' or 'the character is only saying this so I can keep up'. Even Kill la Kill's guilty of this storytelling shortcut (the explanation on Goku uniforms, for example); however, it has such a wacky, over-the-top tone that the convenient exposition can be dismissed.
Now, what forms can crappy exposition come in? There's narration: having some character lay out all the facts. World Trigger's guilty of it every freaking episode, RWBY did it, the Pokemon anime did it, and plenty others I'm not thinking of right now and many more I've never seen. If you start your story with "here's how the world works!" or "this is who my character is!" then I have a news flash for you: you're doing it wrong. Now, I'm a firm believer in the idea that there are no concrete rules to writing, just good guidelines to follow (Pirates anyone?) That being said, unless you're William Shakespeare magicked out of the grave, you probably don't have the skill to make a bare-bones narration of that sort seem anything other than heavy-handed.
There's also dialogue. I've seen time and time again in anime where, for no particular reason, a character starts spouting facts at other characters. This is especially bad when the other character knows exactly what they're talking about. This method often forgets that these characters are part of a society filled with these ideas - imagine for example an anime about modern life with one of the characters explaining cellphones to another cellphone-carrying character. It seems plain stupid, doesn't it? The same applies for character-building; having characters gossip in the background about 'that guy' seems too convenient and not that realistic - the gossip mill doesn't go on about the same guy forever, y'know.
And there's internal narration as well: what a character's thinking. No person is actively muse to themselves how a cellphone works and how it connects people. In a similar manner, no character is going to give a great deal of thought about any other mundane part of their world.
Okay, so how do you do exposition? Let's look at Fullmetal Alchemist (the original, since Brotherhood doesn't handle the beginning as well) and examine how they offer world-building details. For the sake of this, I actually rewatched it so I could provide specific examples.
The show starts off with Ed and Al, in their childhood, trying to resurrect mom. Do they explain Alchemy? Nope, not a word. No narration, no cheesy dialogue. A hint of danger is given by Ed telling Al 'not to be scared' - that's all you need to know that they're doing something risky.
Okay, wait, I take it back. They do explain it. Well... let's examine how they do it. The narration works in tandem with the Alchemy; it doesn't distract from the flow of events happening in that moment. It lasts about forty-five seconds, pausing for other characters to make brief entrances. Mustang in particular, a silent figure staring at the action, builds intrigue.
Once the ominous exposition's over, it cuts back to the action. Pain, regret, loss - then we learn what he was trying to do through one word: "mother". That's all it takes to explain what the brothers were trying to do.
Then it cuts to four years later. It doesn't explicitly say this - it leaves the audience wondering about what they're doing. Then we get the first surprise - Ed looks for Al, then we find Al's a suit of armor. This detail, mixed with an image of the armor from the initial scene, tells us Al's a suit of armor from the lab, and the viewer is able to piece together a lot of info from that one tidbit.
Then there's some additional details that come up in conversation between Al and the people of Liore - dialogue that seems natural because they're foreign people in a distant city with less information of the outside world.
I could go on more, but that would be losing track of the point. The point is the example: they use both dialogue and narration to get the world-building done, so why does it work here while it falls flat almost everywhere else? The answer lies in how it's done. The narration is short and mixed with an exciting, mysterious scene of arcane images and swirling lights. This isn't a style readily conveyed in writing, since you're either forced to pick and choose what you say or heavily dilute your details with exposition, both of which weaken your writing. Every word is precious; unlike anime, books and short stories don't have the luxury of using images in tandem with words to convey information.
So, let's look at the dialogue. The conversation doesn't start with "this is how Alchemy works" or "this is what's so great about our country." Instead, the dialogue starts with the more natural point of "you're not from around here" and works its way to the exposition through more natural means - the breaking of the radio.
Another neat trick: DON'T EXPLAIN SOME STUFF. Do they explain Ed's ability to transmute without a circle off the bat? At first, you think they do, with the pocketwatch, but nope. Ed doesn't need it. Why? Tough break, we're not telling you until later. This enticing bit of withheld information leaves the reader curious for more. Of course, you can't leave the reader too uninformed. Imagine if they never explained how Alchemy worked - you'd be lost and confused by their apparently arbitrary set of abilities and lack of rules. While everything isn't laid out for you, the rule of equivalent exchange and the image of a transmutation circle puts guidelines on this power and allows the viewer to understand the power's limits.
Okay, let's wrap this up with a summary, since I'm getting tired and still want to work on Darkness some more.
Summary
So, study the b-list anime and critique it. What do they do wrong? How would you improve upon it? Learn to spot the flaws in their work, and you will hopefully learn to spot the flaws in your own.
So, don't be blunt about it. Let the exposition come through action if you can, dialogue if the action needs help, and narration only if you have to. Be subtle, and keep in mind that the characters will know the basics about your world and feel no need to explain them to another member of their society. And don't be afraid to keep the reader in the dark about some pieces of information. As much as I hate self-referencing, I feel this is one of my stronger points. Does Through the Scope explain why there are pokemon, or that the village depends on hunting for its survival? It comes up through character action and dialogue - never narration. Or Communication, by Sike Saner - let's use that one. Does it explain why snorunt are feared by other pokemon? Not right away - Solonn's mother explains it to him after the fact. The fear is first shown by the sealeo's reaction and leaves the reader to ponder over why this is so.
And... I stopped summarizing. Let's get back on track here and close with the big questions.
Does my exposition add to or subtract from the action in the moment?
Would my character ever say this to this person/their self?
Does the reader need to know what this is about, or should I leave them wondering?
Does my reader need to know this NOW? Or is this something that won't pop up for another long while? LotR is an excellent series to study for exposition, and world-building in general, and I can't recommend it enough. Er-hem, moving on.
How much should I tell the reader? Can I condense these facts into an even simpler version? Can I fit these facts into subtle details?
I'd go over the same questions when reading/watching other work to see what they do right/wrong. So, until next time people, stay salty.
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