Dialogue vs. Exposition in a Scene
Scenes, Part 4 of 4: Making scenes feel realistic
Readers are now less tolerant of large blocks of text setting scenes or laying background for pages on end. But too much dialogue can make a reader feel disconnected from the fictional world. How do we strike the right balance?
By making the reader feel like an active participant in the story instead of an observer. They need to witness both what is said and what is left unsaid to feel the tension in the scene.
If we start with the scene as the building block of story, this can guide our use of dialogue and exposition to impart conflict and consequences to propel the story forward.
We all know stories need dialogue, and dialogue could be its own series on this blog, but it’s worth a deeper look into exposition to understand how to wield its power.
This is the fourth article in a four-part series on writing effective scenes. For previous articles, click here:
Part 1: Why Does Fiction Need Scenes?
Part 2: Using Scenes to Establish Setting
Part 3: How to Use Scenes to Build Plot
What is exposition, really?
Exposition is critical to telling a story. The audience needs basic details quickly so they can understand the context of the dialgoue and action occuring in a scene.
This is where show vs. tell comes into play.
Telling the reader what is happening in a story looks like pages with little dialogue, in which everything is described. This can feel like paraphrasing for the reader. While technically the reader has those critical details, they lacked any of the actual experience of the story, and therefore would not feel engaged with what happened.
It’s a passive reading experience.
What readers want is to actively experience what is happening — they want to witness a story, to feel it as if they’ve gone through those experiences themselves. And that’s accomplished through dialogue, action beats, and contextual detail.
Focus too much on dialogue, though, and the reader lacks all the juicy context that brings the story they are witnessing to life.
So, exposition exists to fill in just enough context (background, reactions, and other sensory detail) to make the dialogue have meaning.
If a moment is important to the overall story plot, show it in exquisite detail. If time passes and whatever happened could be paraphrased, sum it up and focus on showing the action of the story. Both are critical to a story, but it’s important to know when to employ the careful use of exposition to achieve the right balance.
When to use exposition
Exposition gives the reader all the information they need to build the stories in their imagination.
Background
Background information includes any context needed to understand the current scene, as well as the setting details to fill in the ficitonal world.
What about this location should the reader know to understand how the characters interact?
What is happening in this world that can affect what is happening to the character right now?
What details can cue the reader in to the social norms of this place?
What background information does the reader need to know to understand the character motivations?
Notice the emphasis on need in that last bullet. Yes, all of the things that happen to a person can influence their current decisions, but is there something critical that the reader needs to know?
For example, a story about a woman seeking justice for a murdered daughter would need to know the basics: what happened, when, and does she know who did it? the reader doesn’t need every detail, but they need enough to understand the situation facing the character.
Another example is in a first chapter of a novel. Authors feel like they need to include a lot of background to get the reader up to speed, but the reader only needs to know the very basics to get going. Leaving out some of the answers to the deeper question of why a character does something can also create curiosity, which compels the reader to keep reading to find out.
Give the reader just enough information to understand the scene, and let them read on to find out more.
Character observations
Sometimes referred to as internal dialogue, character observations are crucial to filling in context and bonding the reader to the character.
How a character views the world around them tells the reader who they are. Whether they view things pessimistically or optimistically, or whether they see actions as hostile versus friendly will make the character come to life for the reader.
Not only does the character feel more real if they observe the world around us, they can observe clues that warn the reader of something to come that the character chooses to ignore (foreshadowing).
Use exposition to focus the reader on what matters to the story (or not, if you’re employing a red herring in a mystery).
Observed details about the setting can contribute to the overall tone of the book and fill out additional world-building detail.
Situational context
People don’t always say what they mean, and in fiction, this should be especially true. The less these match up, the juicier the reader’s experience.
Use exposition to tell the reader what is really going on. If the main character suspects someone might be lying, tell the reader why. If the main character senses hostility in an otherwise friendly situation, show the reader through exposition what seems to be off.
Context is especially useful when shown in action beats sprinkled within dialogue.
If two characters are having a discussion that will change the course of the story, the reader needs to see that conversation in a blow-by-blow account. The exchanged words should be on the page for the reader to experience. Resist the urge to summarize and move on — the reader craves the juicy details.
Along with that dialouge, the reader needs action beats so they can judge whether or not the characters each mean what they say, and what it might imply if they do not.
Consider this example:
If a reader is told that two characters discuss quitting their city jobs, selling everything they own, and decide to homestead, that might be interesting to a reader, depending on whether they have any personal connection to a similar decision.
But if written as a blow-by-blow account, the nuance of interpersonal dynamics come out. A discussion over whether to quit their jobs might not be so straight forward. Maybe one has been hoping for promotion and isn’t willing to give that up yet. And how, specifically, does one person bring this plan up to the other? Do they expect the other person to be hesitant or enthusiastic? What do they say to try to influence the other, and does the other person realize they might be getting manipulated?
Perhaps one charater has reservations, or is actually afraid of being all alone in the country. How would they react, even if they don’t say it out loud? What if one person entertains the idea but is secretly afraid? What if one is all for it and the other says they are, but is secretly already in talks with a divorce lawyer? Or, what if the reader gets to watch what happens when the couple settles on this homestead, but one character (or both) is consumed with regret yet continues to go on with it for the sake of the marriage?
Context makes things interesting — don’t shortchange the reader all of those delicious interactions.
Transitions
Transitioning from one scene to another is a simple but critical function of exposition. In this case, paraphrasing is necessary.
Use exposition when you need to skip forward in time, or skip over elements that aren’t critical to the story, such as how a character gets from one scene to the next in their car. Instead of taking the reader through turn-by-turn directions during which nothing in particular other than travel occurs, simply tell the reader they drove there and move on.
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Exposition to fill in the critical details of a story can make a fictional world feel real for the reader. The most important thing to keep in mind is to keep the reader in the now, and only divulge whatever additional information the reader needs to believe or accept what is happening. Using the right balance of exposition to dialogue (showing vs. telling) will keep the reader engaged and have them feeling like they were transported to a different world.
Happy writing!