You're Writing Exposition Wrong (here's how to fix it)
Filmmaking Lesson #1
If you want to write movies, you’ve probably had well-meaning people tell you: “Avoid exposition! Dramatize! Show vs. Tell!”
And they’re technically not wrong...from a certain point of view.
But let’s talk about exposition, that “nasty” stuff writers are supposed to stay away from at all costs.
Right?
No exposition ever!
But if we’re honest, exposition gets a bad rap, and this is why:
Most exposition sucks...but only because it’s not being written correctly!
Exposition - in its proper form - is actually a necessary part of most stories, and today you’re going to learn when a story needs exposition and how to execute it in a way that, well, doesn’t suck.
I want you to think about this: when we enter a story, it’s kinda like sneaking into another world, even if that other world is simply the shenanigans one cubicle over.
But in every story there are parts that may require...a bit of explanation.
At its most basic level, exposition is the information your audience needs to know in order to understand the story...the very specific and vital details that we’d be simply lost without.
Exposition is the information the movie gives us to better understand the world...the characters...the plot...history...relationships...the situation in general...and really any combination of these.
That doesn’t sound like a bad thing, right?
The problem is that most exposition is unearned.
When we think of “bad exposition” we think of having information dumped on us in an awkward way.
Too much information just makes our audience bored, while too little information can lead to confusion.
And when you’re writing, this can feel like a near-impossible balance to achieve.
But there are ways to unwrap the mystery of great exposition!
First though, there is one “DON’T DO THIS RULE” I want you to promise me you’ll remember forever:
Characters should never say something for the sole benefit of the audience.
Don’t slam the breaks to explain to the audience what’s going on.
Ever.
Are there exceptions to ever?
Of course.
A great example is from the movie The Big Short, where the filmmakers chose a recurring fourth-wall breaking technique to help the audience understand stupidly complicated real estate stuff.
Most of the time though, this doesn’t work, so today, you’re going to forget about the exceptions until you’ve mastered these five basic, but vital, exposition-writing skills.
Let’s look at this scene from Star Wars: A New Hope:
“A young Jedi named Darth Vader, who was a pupil of mine until he turned to evil, helped the Empire hunt down and destroy the Jedi Knights. He betrayed and murdered your father.”
#1: Great exposition is properly motivated.
All Characters should have precise, purposeful reasons for saying the things they say.
In nearly every case, characters say something because they want something.
They have an innate motivation for telling a character something or revealing a key detail.
In this scene, Obi-Wan offers information about Darth Vader and Luke’s father - two separate characters to Luke at this point - because he wants to help Luke understand where he fits into the ongoing galactic struggle.
More importantly, at this specific moment, Obi-Wan needs Luke’s help.
Obi-Wan’s carefully chosen words plants the seeds that help Luke get to the point where he’s willing to leave Tatooine and follow his destiny.
This is key though: those words - those details - are for Luke’s ears.
This is the primary benefit of having a primary hero the audience can follow: it’s natural for them, and us, to receive specific information at the exact same time.
When Luke needed that information is when we - the audience - also needed that information to keep us engaged with the plot.
The reason why it feels natural is because Luke needed that precise bit of exposition even more than we did.
And Obi-Wan told us just enough to help frame and understand the plot when Luke needed it, but at a time when it also most benefited us.
Not at the beginning of the story, but over 20 minutes in when it was the right time.
These words from Master Kenobi are also folded into our next technique: TENSION.
#2 Great exposition increases tension and adds stakes.
Now that Luke knows a bit more about Vader, he inherently knows that the girl from the mysterious hologram is in danger.
Everything Luke learns in this scene is fuel that, only a few scenes later, helps him choose to leave his home planet and join the fight against the Empire.
Why does this work?
Because we’ve already seen that Darth Vader is terrifying, and now, based on Obi-Wan’s exposition, we know that he is also a murderous traitor.
This piece of information sows the seeds for an increase in tension when Vader actively starts hunting down Luke.
The exposition also tells us that there is a tumultuous history between Vader and Obi-Wan.
It turns Vader from a scary villain into a personal villain, and we love and are terrified of personal villains because there’s usually some sort of revenge aspect in play.
Carefully feeding the audience a bit of tension-building exposition makes all the following scenes with the villain more intense because it’s now personal.
The plot threads align to drive the villain and hero towards an inevitable showdown, one that’s all triggered by a simple, but key piece of information.
And we crave knowing what happens next.
Great exposition pushes the story along by making you ask questions:
“What exactly happened between Obi-Wan and Darth Vader?”
“Why did Vader betray and murder Luke’s father?” (from a certain point of view😉).
We want to know exactly how the relationship between Vader and Obi-Wan will conclude, not to mention what will happen when Luke inevitably meets Vader.
There is now a complex dynamic between Vader and Luke, as well as a historical one between Vader and Obi-Wan.
When you get your audience to ask questions, this usually means that they’re engaged with the story and want to learn more.
If you’re ever in doubt about what to do with exposition, if you focus on boosting the tension, this will usually be enough to make the audience forget they are receiving exposition.
#3 Great exposition lets you lie to your audience.
This is realllly tricky. You don’t want to exactly spread false information to your audience; this just causes anger and frustration.
But when a character has a reason to withhold specific information from another character, and by proxy, the audience, this can work...as long as the character has an absurdly good reason for doing so.
We all know that in this scene, the exposition is not the full truth.
Characters should only lie during exposition if they have an intense, character-driven reason to do so, NOT to misdirect your audience just because you want to be cool and sneaky.
Obi-Wan gives a half-truth here because he knew that Luke was not ready for the full truth, a point which is explained in Episode Six.
If a character has a character-driven risen to lie, it’s ok to carefully use exposition to tell some half-truths, as long as it’s another character who needs to hear this lie, and it’s worked into their character development.
But if a misdirection is solely for the audience’s sake, this will alienate your them and cause them to look suspiciously at every other scene.
I must caution you again, if you use the “half-truth exposition” technique, you’ve gotta be absurdly careful, lest your audience has a conniption because they were lied to.
#4: Great exposition waits for as long as possible.
This one is simple to execute, if we can get our brains to cooperate.
Look, I get it. You’ve written this fantastically cool story world and absurdly compelling backstory for your heroes and villains and all you want in life is to show-off your creations for all mankind.
Restrain yourself.
I beg you.
I promise you’ll thank me later.
This is probably the best way to write great exposition: hide as much information from your audience for literally as long as you can before you start to squeeze out some secrets.
Did Obi-Wan drop all the dirty details from three prequel films and a hundred Clone Wars episodes on Luke?
I know, I know, those weren’t conceived yet in 1977, but the history was implied!
“You fought in the Clone Wars?”
Obi-Wan gives a few answers, which are specifically designed to raise more questions:
“How did my father die?”
The info-drop that Vader “killed Luke’s father” gives us a desperate NEED to know why and how, because at this point we’ve already emotionally connected with Luke and are committed to following his journey.
I remember feeling paralyzed by the “How did my father die?” question when I first saw Star Wars as an 8-year-old.
I shared the same intense question that Luke had.
Great exposition answers some essential questions, while also raising more increasingly important questions.
All those cool things about your story...treat them like the world’s best kept secrets and tease them out.
Make your viewers CRAVE these hidden details.
When your audience is BEGGING you for exposition, that’s the perfect time to drop just enough nuggets to partially satisfy their urge, while keeping them eagerly anticipating more juicy details.
However, don’t wait SO long that you confuse or frustrate your audience by withholding information for TOO long.
Basically, don’t get cute with holding onto your secrets, but don’t spoon-feed them either.
Give your audience just enough information to keep their frustration at bay, and more importantly raise more desperate questions in their minds.
#5: Great exposition is hidden under subtext.
Subtext is when dialogue has multiple layers of meaning.
Characters could be saying one thing, and meaning something different.
Or, they could be trying to say two equally important things at the same time.
It’s a powerful tool characters use to try and achieve their goals or get what they want.
We’ll take a deep dive into subtext over the next couple of weeks with scenes from Casino Royale and Attack of the Clones (yes, even Episode II has a couple of great dialogue scenes 😉 )
And until next time, go create something epic!