Exposition is merely another word for explanation.

The object of exposition, to make clear a general term or principle, differs from description and narration--both of which describe specific instances or things.

In order to make your exposition work for you, here are a few simple rules to follow: Know what you want to say--know your subject matter thoroughly.

Present your statements in logical order.

Be as brief as is consistent with an adequate explanation.

Suit your language to your reader.

Illustrate general principles by concrete examples.

Use precise terms.

Make exact statements.

Words to remember:

blazé — having one's sensibilities deadened by excess of enjoyment.

passé — out of date.

From the beginning of recorded history, there have been storytellers. They were called bards,  minstrels who had the gift of telling in song and story the events of the day and who were in great demand.  This is the means by which much history was passed down from generation to generation.  These early storytellers were narrators.  Some of the stories were simple and some complex, but most all bards had three things in common thread--accurate observation, a gift of gab, and a retentive memory.

Most of their offerings were in verse, which made their stories easier to remember. In narrative, we must have three things, also:

Characters who have a part in the story.

The plot or action of the story

The background or setting.

All stories must have a purpose, though sometimes the author becomes so far removed from the purpose he originally had in mind, that he fails to present his material effectively.

After determining his purpose and ultimate reason for writing his story, the author must decide on his 'point-of-view'.  Who shall tell the story?  Shall the author tell the story from an outside point of view, or shall one of the characters be the principal viewpoint character?  A skilled storyteller will have as his 'point-of-view' character the one which will permit the greater number of interesting scenes.  If the point of view shifts to another character, the author should make the shift obvious. (Too much jumping from one POV character to another is tedious to a reader and is called 'head hopping' by professionals.)'

[[This ‘head-hopping' brought about the ‘rule' that only one or two POV characters are preferable.  If handled well, we can have multiple POV characters.]]

In narration, as in description, exposition, etc. it is essential for the writer to include everything that is necessary and to omit everything that is not.  The beginner often fills his work with a confusion of details which have nothing at all to do with moving the story forward, but which hinder the flow and pace of the work; or he forgets that what may be clear to him is not clear to the reader and err on the side of too few details.

Omit what is irrelevant or implied. 

Example: Action that should be omitted enclosed in stars.

The office manager arose from his chair, **walked across the room**, and

**severely** reprimanded the cashier. 

Actually, all we need to know is: The office manager reprimanded the cashier.

Ignore uneventful periods of time, or sum them up in a sentence or short paragraph.  Make your narrative a succession of dramatic incidents, and let your reader infer what happened between them.

Open your story with the five W's: who, when, where, what and why — an account of WHO the characters are, WHERE the action takes place, describe the action (WHAT the action is), WHEN it takes place, and WHY the incident is being related.

[[This is called ‘setting the scene', and keeps a reader from being jerked out of the story line wondering who, what, when, where, and why.]]

Too many writers fail to set their scenes.  They begin with what they call a ‘hook' (another ‘rule' that somehow appeared on the writing scene). When I pick up a manuscript and it begins with a naked man on the bank of a stream, discovered by a woman riding her horse, I would call that a hook.  The reader is supposed to be so interested in finding out who the man is and why he's there, that they will turn page after page after page to find out, and maybe many will. But I won't.  I'll toss that one and find a book that shows the man coming to the bank, who he is, why he's naked and identifies the woman who finds him.  When we begin a manuscript properly, we can build the excitement, suspense, interest as we go, to keep the reader reading.  If we star--as in the first example--we can only go downhill from there. 

Of course, we MUST catch the reader's interest in the beginning of the novel.  But the second scene described can do that quite well. [[Novels written by the most well-known and highest-paid authors begin their novels without the ‘so-called' hook and build the story as it progresses–to the climax–and then slow again until just before the end, again elevating the pace and then slowing down to the end.  Most of them break all the ‘rules' as well.  Naturally, there are exceptions.]] Someone said it's okay to break rules as long as you know which rules you're breaking. 

Other writers bring in characters and refer to them only as ‘he' or ‘she' and the reader has no idea who the character is, or what importance the character will have in the novel–until perhaps pages later.  We need to know who each character is as that character is introduced into the story line.

This is not to say that one must adhere to a chronological order of events.  Sometimes the most exciting place to start a novel is in the middle, for best effect, later going back and gathering up the introductory incidents.  But whatever the order, the writing must be clear.  No annoying gaps in action, and no incidents introduced until the reader has been prepared for them.  No unknown characters.  No contrivances, please. The first novel I ever wrote (and to me, the best I ever wrote) began near the middle and backflashed for five or six chapters before again taking up the story near the middle.  I've had nothing but great reviews on it.  That's another 'rule' broken, that 'blackflashes are to be avoided'.  I have them in all my novels--so much better, in my opinion, than too much narration.

Many advise authors to follow an outline, make character sketches, et cetera.  I simply cannot follow that advice.  I begin with an idea, sit down and begin to write.  Sentence follows sentence and soon my characters are writing my novel for me. 

I remember only one thing from one of the few writing conferences I ever attended.  An author spoke about characterization.  He said if a writer makes his characters ‘real', makes them come alive for the reader, and allows them to, they will write the book for him. I recognized that as true, at least for me, because that is what happens for me. I once had a critiquer tell me that I must get rid of a scene in which my female protagonist stole items from the male protagonist. "That's a no-no," I was told. She cannot be a thief. ((Who said so?)) That manuscript was my first attempt at historical fiction.  I deleted the scene and was unable to write another word.  I got ‘writers' block' the first and only time in my writing career.  I added the scene back in and the novel took off.  The items she took played an important part in the plot later on, but I did not consciously know that at the time I wrote it.   Don't we love this craft?  I know I do.

SOME RULES TO REMEMBER:

Omit all but essential facts.  Say what you want to say with a minimum of words, using picture words (include the senses) to enhance your imagery.

Use short, crisp sentences for excitement and longer slow sentences to counteract tension and slow the pace.

Use strong descriptive verbs and fewer adverbs.

Strive for smooth pacing and original voice.

Flesh out your characters and give them natural sounding dialogue, remembering that no one speaks without using contractions.  Vary your sentence structure but be aware of faulty construction which results in awkward sentences. (Recognize that the foregoing articles on words such as ‘cute', ‘nice', ‘interesting' and so on, do not apply to dialogue.  Our characters must speak authentically to the period in which we write. A character certainly might say: "That's a ‘cute' kid."  Or: "I thought the evening was quite ‘nice'," Or: "Yes, I found that ‘interesting'.")

Learn to recognize the passive verbs and use them sparingly.

PRONOUN REFERENCE:

The following sentence is obscure because the reader cannot be sure to whom the pronouns refer–to father or to Paul. [[I often see this in manuscripts, and it is difficult to read.]]

Father told Paul *he* should telephone *him* if *he* did not return by nine o'clock.

The author would need to clarify that sentence.

THEN WE HAVE:

I think *everyone* has a right to *their* own opinion. [[This is an example of incorrect reference.]]

The sentence should read: I think *everyone* has a right to *his* own opinion.

((HINT: the pronoun must agree with its antecedent in person, number, and gender.)

Examples:

Everyone has (his, their) own troubles.  (Everyone is singular so the correct choice is 'his'.

(Have, has) each of you (your, his) ticket? (The correct choice is 'has' and 'his'.

Each of the girls took (their, her) share.  ('her' is the correct choice.)

Committee is one of the collective nouns that may be thought of as meaning either a group or the individuals that comprise the group. Whether we use its or their will depend on our concept of the word committee.

Singular pronouns:

anyone

person

everybody

no one

everyone

someone

INTERESTING FACT: The motto of the American people, "In God we Trust," was not adopted as the national slogan until 1956.

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