{{short description|Background information within a narrative}} {{about|background information in a story|expository writing|Rhetorical modes#Exposition|other uses|Exposition (disambiguation)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2016}}
'''Narrative exposition''', now often simply '''exposition''', is the insertion of background information within a story or narrative. This information can be about the setting, characters' backstories, prior plot events, historical context, etc.<ref>{{cite book|year=2009|title=Kaplan SAT Subject Test: Literature 2009–2010 Edition|publisher=Kaplan Publishing|page=60|isbn=978-1-4195-5261-8}}</ref> In literature, exposition appears in the form of expository writing embedded within the narrative.
== Infodumping == An ''information dump'' (more commonly now, ''infodump'') is a large drop of information by the author to provide background they deem necessary to continue the plot. This is ill-advised in narrative and is even worse when used in dialogue. There are cases where an information dump can work, but in many instances it slows down the plot or breaks immersion for the readers. Exposition works best when the author provides only the bare minimum of surface information and allows the readers to discover as they go.<ref>{{harvtxt|Bell|2004|p=71}}</ref>
== {{anchor|Incluing|Indirect exposition}} Indirect exposition/incluing == <!-- THIS SECTION ACTUALLY IS ABOUT "INCLUING"—NOT "INCLUDING." PLEASE READ THE ARTICLE BEFORE EDITING. --> ''Indirect exposition'', sometimes called {{notatypo|''incluing''}}, is a technique of worldbuilding in which the reader is gradually exposed to background information about the world in which a story is set. The idea is to ''clue'' the readers in to the world the author is building without them being aware of it. This can be done in a number of ways: through dialogues, flashbacks, characters' thoughts,<ref name="Dibell 1988 51" /> background details, in-universe media,<ref name="Morrell 2006 64">{{cite book|title=Between the Lines: Master the Subtle Elements of Fiction Writing|first=Jessica Page|last=Morrell |publisher=Writer's Digest Books|location=Cincinnati, Ohio|page=64|year=2006|isbn=978-1-58297-393-7}}</ref> or the narrator telling a backstory.<ref name="Dibell 1988 51">{{cite book|title=Plot|first=Ansen|last=Dibell|publisher=Writer’s Digest Books|location=Cincinnati, OH|year=1988|isbn=0-89879-303-3|url=https://archive.org/details/plotdibe00dibe}} *{{cite book|title=Building Better Plots|first=Robert|last=Kernen|publisher=Writer’s Digest Books|location= Cincinnati, Ohio|page=51|year=1999|isbn=0-89879-903-1}}</ref>
Indirect exposition has always occurred in storytelling incidentally, but is first clearly identified in the modern literary world, in the writing of Rudyard Kipling. In his stories set in India like ''The Jungle Book'', Kipling was faced with the problem of Western readers not knowing the culture and environment of that land, so he gradually developed the technique of explaining through example. But this was relatively subtle, compared to Kipling's science fiction stories, where he used the technique much more obviously and necessarily, to explain an entirely fantastic world unknown to any reader, in his Aerial Board of Control universe,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2005-12-02 |title=Rudyard Kipling Invented SF! – Armed and Dangerous |url=http://esr.ibiblio.org/?p=234 |access-date=2024-09-26 |language=en-US}}</ref> starting with the novella "With the Night Mail" (1905).
Kipling's writing influenced other science fiction writers, most notably the "Dean of Science Fiction", Robert Heinlein, who became known for his advanced rhetorical and storytelling techniques, including indirect exposition.
The word ''incluing'' is attributed to fantasy and science fiction author Jo Walton.<ref>{{cite web|author=Michelle Bottorff|url=http://www.lshelby.com/rasfcFAQ.html|title=rec.arts.sf.composition Frequently Asked Questions |publisher=Lshelby.com|date=11 June 2008|access-date=6 November 2011}}</ref> She defined it as "the process of scattering information seamlessly through the text, as opposed to stopping the story to impart the information."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://papersky.livejournal.com/324603.html|title=papersky: Thud: Half a Crown & Incluing|publisher=Papersky.livejournal.com|access-date=6 November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111119145140/http://papersky.livejournal.com/324603.html|archive-date=19 November 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> "Information dump" (or info-dump) is the term given for overt exposition, which writers want to avoid.<ref name=Bell>{{harvtxt|Bell|2004|p=78}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.screenplayology.com/content-sections/screenplay-form-content/3-3/|title = 3.3. Methods of screenplay exposition|date = 18 October 2010}}</ref> In an ''idiot lecture'', characters tell each other information that needs to be explained for the purpose of the audience, but of which the characters in-universe would already be aware.<ref>{{cite book|author1=John Ashmead|author2=Darrell Schweitzer|author3=George H. Scithers|title=Constructing scientifiction & fantasy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zz1ZAAAAMAAJ|year=1982|publisher=TSR Hobbies|page=24|access-date=10 March 2016}}</ref> Writers are advised to avoid writing dialogues beginning with "As you well know, Professor, a prime number is..."<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kempton|year=2004|title=Write Great Fiction – Dialogue|publisher=F+W Media|page=190|isbn=1-58297-289-3}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Rogow|year=1991|title=FutureSpeak: a fan's guide to the language of science fiction|publisher=Paragon House|page=[https://archive.org/details/futurespeakfansg0000rogo/page/160 160]|isbn=1-55778-347-0|url=https://archive.org/details/futurespeakfansg0000rogo/page/160}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fiction-writers-mentor.com/info-dumping.html|title=Info-Dumping|work=Fiction Writer's Mentor|access-date=10 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150623124607/http://fiction-writers-mentor.com/info-dumping.html|archive-date=23 June 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>
== See also == *Show, don't tell
== Notes == {{Reflist|30em}}
== References == * {{ citation | last1 = Bell | first1 = James Scott | title = Write Great Fiction: Plot & Structure | publisher = Writer's Digest Books | location = Cincinnati | isbn = 1-58297-294-X | year = 2004 }} * {{citation | last = Crews | first = Frederick | title = The Random House Handbook | edition = 2nd | location = New York | publisher = Random House | date = 1977 | isbn = 0-394-31211-2 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/randomhousehand00crew }} * {{ citation | last1 = Sebranek | first1 = Patrick | last2 = Kemper | first2 = Dave | last3 = Meyer | first3 = Verne | title = Writers Inc.: A Student Handbook for Writing and Learning | location = Wilmington | publisher = Houghton Mifflin Company | date = 2006 | isbn = 978-0-669-52994-4 | ref = {{harvid|Sebranek et al.|2006}} }}
{{Narrative}} {{authority control}}
Category:Narrative techniques Category:Fiction-writing mode