As we wind down on Week 2 of the A to Z blogger's challenge, I find myself struggling through a severe head cold and trying to string two coherent sentences together. So for my "L," I came up with "links."
A well-written novel must be linked. And what do I mean by links?
Well, if you think about the link of a chain, each one connects with two other links, one before and one after. The only two links which do not connect to two others are the beginning and end. But each link is soldered together to make running your hand over it smooth.
For a novel, this means each scene is a link. And your entire story should be linked together so that it reads smoothly. It should have a beginning, a middle, and an end, all of which seamlessly flow into the other.
Each link serves its purpose to string the plot from beginning to end. No scene should be so abrupt that it causes the reader's attention to snag. Each scene should naturally follow the prior one. In other words, each scene needs to build on the information, characters, plot, themes of the one before. If a scene doesn't advance one or all of these, it might need to be revised or eliminated completely.
Each scene should:
1. Establish when (time);
2. Establish where (setting);
3. Establish who (character or point-of-view);
4. Advance why we're reading (the plot);
5. Make it clear what the character(s) want;
6. Have conflict;
7. Start as late as possible in the action;
8. End as early as possible (think cliffhanger);
9. Transition us from the prior scene;
10. Transition us into the next scene.
A successful novel is one where the reader eagerly grabs a hold of the chain and, link-by-link, works his way from the beginning to the end. He isn't snagged at any one link, he doesn't stumble or want to put the book down. It's a difficult thing to do, but it's what every writer should aim for in their novel. (It's almost as difficult as making this metaphor work.)
~I.E.
Simply put, exposition in fiction writing is anything which conveys important background information to the audience. In other words, exposition could be considered an information dump.
The problem with exposition is that a large chunk of it stops the plot cold.
What could be more boring than interrupting a page of witty dialogue between protagonist and serial killer in order to describe that vital moment in the killer's life where his mother left him and his father beat him? Even if that's what made your character turn into a killer, untimely exposition can ruin a book. A reader won't have enough patience to reach the end of the story if you keep interrupting for an info dump—no matter how vital to the plot.
So how do you get around exposition? There are four main ways, outlined below.
Dialogue:
You can try to weave it into dialogue, but this can make your dialogue long and unrealistic. You could introduce a character who asks questions that the reader might be asking, I.e. The dumb friend, but that can sometimes be too obvious (and annoying).
Flashbacks:
Flashbacks have fallen out of vogue to some extent, but this is an efficient way to give a lot of vital information. A flashback is a scene where the character experiences a flash back to a previous time in their life, usually connected in some way to the scene at hand. This experience could be triggered by a smell or sight or something another character says. The only problem with these are that they significantly interrupt the plot and take you back into the past—whether minutes or years, it's out of the action.
Memories:
Similar to a flashback, but shorter, memories look at the scene from the present, rather than experiencing it as it happened like in a flashback. Again, these could be triggered by a scent or sight or a comment. Since these are shorter, they could be considered less of an interruption than a flashback.
Sprinkle:
Perhaps the best way is to sprinkle it throughout dialogue and narrative. A sentence here, a sentence there, a little bit of setting, a little bit of backstory, but keep the focus on the action.
It's sometimes hard to know when you're writing what is distracting backstory and what is crucial to the plot. I find I recognize exposition for what it is when I set my first draft aside for a few weeks, or a couple of months, and then do a quick read through in one or two sittings. During that read-through, I highlight the offending scenes and edit them later. (Yes, I've finally learned how to do this! My iPad is vital for this, because I cannot edit as I read.)
Striking a balance of exposition is difficult, and something that even best selling authors can get wrong. Of course, it's also something that readers have varying opinions on. So what to do? Well, definitely get second (and third and fourth) opinion, but try to keep the focus on the here and now. After all, the "here and now" is the story you're trying to tell, right?
~I.E.
Day 1: Absolution
Day 2: Biography
Day 3: Confidence
Day 4: Daphne
