Exposition, as a fiction-writing mode, may be presented in three ways: by direct narration, through characters, or with expository devices.  Other significant issues for the effective presentation of information include: 
• Quantity
• Selection of information
• Timing
• Exposition in scenes
• Exposition in sequels
• Disguised exposition

QUANTITY
How much information is appropriate?  Too little, and the reader won’t fully understand the story, or the story may lack texture.  On the other hand, too much at one time may become what is referred to as an information dump.

“There are no hard and fast rules about how long exposition should be,” observes Jessica Page Morrell in Between the Lines.  “However, exposition is considered [an exposition dump] when it is so long that it stalls the story, contains information that a reader doesn’t necessarily need to know, and is not interwoven into the story.”

Robert Kernen, in Building Better Plots, notes that “Too much exposition, or too much at one time, can seriously derail a story . . . .”

Ansen Dibell, in Plot, advises writers to “Be tough with exposition.  Make each piece justify its inclusion—at all, and at that particular point in the story.  It shouldn’t be any longer than it has to be to do its essential work.”

Janet Evanovich, in How I Write, sums it up: “Keep you exposition as short and lively as you can.”

SELECTION OF INFORMATION
Since the quantity of information is limited, the question arises as to which information should be included. 

“Limit exposition to the absolute essentials,” recommends Ansen Dibell.  “Important things.  Not everything!”

Regarding the technical information that has become so important in some genres, Dibell points out that “Specialist detail comes under the heading, “If you’ve got it, flaunt it! with just the recognition that flaunting doesn’t involve letting it bury the story in footnotes.”

TIMING
When is the right time to introduce new information into a story?  According to Nancy Kress, in Writer’s Digest, May 2005, “Hold off on including exposition until the storyline makes it relevant.”

 “. . . readers are only interested in explanation after their curiosity has already been aroused by something in need of explaining,” says Ansen Dibell.  “Only important things, important to understand and present this story, right now, should be explained.”

EXPOSITION IN SCENES
In fiction, a scene is a unit of drama: a character attempts to achieve his goal but is thwarted (most of the time). 

Ansen Dibell advises that “If you can, build [information] right into the scene. If it’s important that the protagonist has been married before, invent some prop (a belated birthday card from an exspouse? A final divorce decree in the mailbox?) . . .that shows the fact without your having to say a word directly.  Try to make each of your scenes multi-purpose: introducing or developing characters, moving the plot, and establishing immediately needed background, all at once.”

“That has the advantage of keeping the story rolling while the exposition is going on,” states Dibell.  “It’s not as severe an interruption as it would have been if it were cast as objective narration, the disembodied author/narrator telling the reader directly.”

The amount of information presented in a scene may vary from incidental to scenes built almost entirely around information.  Think of the importance of information in novels such as Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code and Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park.

EXPOSITION IN SEQUELS
As outlined by Jack M. Bickham, in Scene & Structure, a prototype scene ends with the success or failure of the protagonist’s effort to achieve his goal.  A sequel is what follows a scene and typically involves the stages of emotion, thinking, and evaluation.  The proximity of emotion and thinking make sequels fertile ground for presenting information.    

Nancy Kress, in Writer’s Digest (May 2005), describes it as “ . . . having your protagonist ruminate [about the information] . . .”

Ansen Dibell appreciates the link of information and emotion when he explains that “. . . we tend to remember best the information that comes to us surrounded by highly charged emotion.  That’s why so many people can remember precisely where they were and what they were doing when they first learned of the assassination of President Kennedy and how they spent their first date.  Applied to exposition, this means that otherwise undigestible chunks of explanation will move faster, and be absorbed more easily, if they’re put in a highly emotional context.  If you position the information in such a way that it has a strong and immediate emotional impact on somebody . . . it will become . . . hardly exposition at all.”  Dibell suggests that writers dip exposition in emotion whenever possible.

DISGUISED EXPOSITION
Jessica Page Morrell recommends that exposition be “. . . interwoven into the story.” 

Regarding exposition Ansen Dibell, in Plot, advises that writers:
• “Introduce it in the least conspicuous, most natural-seeming way.”
• “Leave your plot as unencumbered as possible.  Let it move.”
• “Integrate it so thoroughly into the fabric of your story and your characters that it becomes part of their rightful structure and substance, bone and flesh, not just a series of labels, speeches, or footnotes.”
• “Build it into the story, wherever the story will stand it.”
• “Make it come alive so the reader can see it happening and mattering rather than being lectured by an author, either directly or by proxy, through some character.”

As noted in Writing A-Z, edited by Kirk Polking, “Writers skilled at this technique insert exposition subtly, so that the reader or viewer doesn’t recognize it as exposition.”

Jordan E. Rosenfeld sums it up beautifully: “. . . information is best served like food in a fancy French restaurant—in small, elegantly presented courses that neither stuffs the reader, nor leaves him overly hungry.”

Exposition is the fiction-writing mode for conveying information.  The concept of exposition may appear to be simple, but as explained by Jordan E. Rosenfeld in Make a Scene, “How you reveal information is just as important as what that information is.” 

Exposition may be delivered through:
• Direct narration
• Characters
• Expository devices

DIRECT NARRATION
Although it may be referred to by other names (direct exposition, objective narration, summary exposition, or simply narration), direct narration is where the narrator of the story addresses the reader directly.  When conveying information by direct narration, the narrator simply states the information without any pretext of channeling it through a character or exposing it through some sort of prop. 

As noted by Ansen Dibell in Plot, the simplest way is to just slip the information between scenes as the all-seeing, all-knowing (but impersonal and invisible) narrator.

But, warns Dibell, there’s a price for direct narration: “Authorial intrusions—the story stopping dead while the author rambles on about whatever happens to interest him—used to be common-place, a hundred and a half years ago.”  For example, Melville’s cetology chapters telling the folklore, anatomy, and habits of whales.  “Now, though,” notes Dibell, “they’re much disliked.”

Example of exposition through direct narration:
Meanwhile, in a saloon across the street from Cisco, Black Bart slipped a derringer into his coat pocket.

THROUGH CHARACTERS
“The other choice,” according to Ansen Dibell, “is to have your characters give the necessary facts . . . .”

As stated by Jordan E. Rosenfeld, “Dialogue is a wonderfully versatile technique for giving the reader information necessary to drive the plot forward or deepen character understanding . . . .”

But Dibell cautions “Don’t ever put into a character’s mouth anything that’s strictly and obviously for the reader’s consumption.  Readers aren’t fooled, and you’ve turned your characters into unconvincing puppets, dummies making silly speeches at each other.”

Another way for characters to provide exposition is through thoughts, especially recollection.  According to Dibell “. . . you can have the exposition as one character’s reflections or thoughts—the fiction writer’s version of a soliloquy.  Your character can think about something . . . and thereby let the reader know what you want to convey.”

Example of exposition through dialogue:
Gabby grabbed Cisco’s shoulder.  “Be careful, sonny.  I’ve heard that Black Bart carries a derringer in his pocket.”

Example of exposition through recollection:
Cisco paused before stepping into the livery stable.  He recalled hearing something about how Black Bart had killed a cowpoke in Dodge City.  A derringer.

EXPOSITORY DEVICES
Jessica Page Morrell, in Between the Lines, observes that various devices may be used to convey information. Examples she provides include
• Trial transcriptions
• Newspaper clippings
• Letters
• Diaries

Other time-honored examples of expository devices, or props, include treasure maps and messages in a bottle.  The advancement of technology is providing new devices: emails, text messages, podcasts. And in the world of science fiction and fantasy, expository devices are limited only by the writer’s imagination (think Star Trek and Harry Potter).

Example of using an expository device:
As Cisco approached the livery stable, a young lad approached him. 
“Hey, mister, a lady across the street asked me to bring you this note.”
Cisco unfolded the paper and read the script, Be careful, Black Bart hides a derringer in his pocket.

Terms such as “information dump” and “expository dialogue” are reminders that exposition is the ugly duckling of fiction-writing modes.  No other mode is treated with such disdain and caution.
• Robert Kernen, in Building Better Plots, writes that “[Exposition] can . . . be the quickest way to kill a plot’s momentum and get your story bogged down in detail.”
• According to Ansen Dibell in Plot, “Exposition involves breaking away from ongoing action to give information . . . telling rather than showing.”
• Janet Evanovich, in How I Write, notes that “One of the potential problems with exposition is that it can become tedious and uninteresting, and the reader tends to skip over it.”

If exposition carries such a burden, why do fiction-writers use it at all? 
As explained by Ansen Dibell, “Well-handled exposition gives perspective, dimension, and needed context that help events in the foreground make sense.”  Furthermore, states Robert Kernen “[Exposition] can be one of the most effective ways of creating and increasing the drama in your story.”

As with many terms in writing, the word exposition means different things to different people.  In fiction-writing, exposition is the mode for conveying information, which may be in various forms: facts, explanation, opinion. 

Not all writers and writing coaches agree as to where exposition fits in the scheme of writing modes.  Certainly, exposition may be considered a subset of narration, but so may any or all of the other fiction-writing modes.  And direct narration is only one of several methods that may be used to deliver exposition.  Sometimes exposition is referred to as a form of summary, and a case may be made for that.  But failure to recognize exposition as a distinct fiction-writing mode:
• Downplays the unique role exposition plays in fiction
• Diminishes the likelihood that exposition will be fully analyzed and understood by students of fiction
• Reduces the likelihood that exposition will be utilized skillfully and to its full potential

Some how-to books about writing fiction imply that exposition is predominantly used at the beginning of a story.  But exposition may be found anywhere in a story, and it may affect all five of the elements of fiction.  Exposition may be used to develop characters, enhance plot, establish setting, and to suggest one or more of a story’s themes.  And, of course, how exposition is presented is part of each author’s unique writing style. 

Exposition may be delivered by either of three techniques: direct narration, through characters, or by expository devices.  Each of these delivery techniques has advantages and disadvantages and each requires skillful presentation for effective use.  As observed by Ansen Dibell, “The first, most important part of handling exposition is realizing that it’s going to need handling.” 

Beyond the three methods of delivering information in fiction, there are other issues involved: 
• Quantity
• Selection of information
• Timing
• Exposition in scenes
• Exposition in sequels
• Disguised exposition

Misuse and abuse of exposition in fiction has earned it a reputation akin to an ugly duckling.  But with appropriate respect, care, and craft, conscientious fiction-writers can transform exposition into something graceful and elegant.

Description “ . . . is more than the amassing of details; it is bringing something to life by carefully choosing and arranging words and phrases to produce the desired effect,” according to Writing from A to Z, edited by Kirk Polking.

Todd A. Stone, in Novelist’s Boot Camp, observes that “Good description has a purpose (or purposes) other than description.  Description is not an end in itself; you don’t write a sentence, paragraph, or passage with the single goal of providing description.  The purpose of fiction is to cause the reader to have an emotional experience.  Description is just one more tool for achieving that purpose . . . .”

When broadly defined, description encompasses almost all written fiction.  But even when description is narrowly defined so as not to overlap other fiction-writing modes, writers face numerous issues:
• Word choice
• Quantity vs. brevity
• Selection of details
• Concrete vs. abstract nouns
• Verbs: active voice vs. passive voice
• Modifiers
• Comparative description
• Transmorphic description
• Clichés vs. fresh language
• Obtrusiveness vs. transparency
• Disguised description
• Narrative vs. point-of-view description

WORD CHOICE
Rather than having to settle for a word that will merely do, authors who write in English are fortunate to have a vast reservoir from which to draw just the right word. 

In Spunk & Bite, Arthur Plotnik notes that “ . . . perhaps the most intriguing quality of certain [words] is aptness—an exact, right-seeming match between word and thing.”

“Selecting the right word that conveys just the right shade of meaning and can’t easily slip over into some other meaning entirely—that is a writer’s job,” according to Michael Kurland, in The Writer March 2008,

QUANITY VS. BREVITY
How much description is enough?  How much is too much?

Les Edgerton, in Hooked, provides some insight: “In fiction’s days of yore, it was perfectly acceptable (and even encouraged) to craft great blocks of passive description, also referred to as windowpane description.  But today’s description is short and sweet . . . .”

David Morrell, in Lessons from a Lifetime of Writing, notes that less is more.  Economy of description may produce clearer effects than description with detail piled upon detail.

“Details may be many or few, but best not to shovel them in wholesale,” observes Susan Bell, in The Artful Edit.  And “Many writing mishaps could be avoided if a writer thought harder about the notion of necessity—in other words, about language that is, or isn’t, necessary.”

In Writer’s Digest Handbook for Novel Writing, David Madden summed it up: “Be brief, as always.”

SELECTION OF DETAILS
Since quantity of description is an issue, a decision must also be made as to which details of description to include and which to exclude. 

“Readers love details, as long as they are interesting, authentic, and colorful,” according to Janet Evanovich in How I Write.  But “You don’t need to tell us every detail.  Pick a few and the reader will supply the rest from his imagination.”

David Morrell, in Lessons from a Lifetime of Writing, states  “The rule I follow is that, if I can assume readers are familiar with a place, I don’t need to describe it at length.  Only if I’m adding something new do I get excited about describing it.”

“. . . some things don’t need describing.  Never state what’s implied.  And don’t imply what’s stated, either,” says Peter Selgin, in By Cunning and Craft.

Stephen Roxburgh, (publisher of Front Street Books) in Children’s Writer (November 1999), states that “The test for including a detail is relevance.”

“Details give your work texture, depth, and credibility,” observes Susan Bell, in The Artful Edit.  She also notes that “When you edit, remove random details.  Significant details are the ones that describe more than what is visual. Choose the detail that has an echo behind it.”  Also according to Bell, “Your obligation. . . is to carefully select details that both mean the most and are the most authentic.”

NOUNS: CONCRETE VS. ABSTRACT
Where possible, use concrete nouns instead of abstract nouns.

“A concrete noun refers to a material object (the table, a dog), whereas an abstract noun refers to something intangible (love, art),” according to Gary Lutz and Diane Stevenson, in the Writer’s Digest Grammar Desk Reference.

David Morrell, in Lessons from a Lifetime of Writing, observes that “When you read the word “apple,” you automatically see an image of that object in your imagination.  Concrete words are triggers that instantly prompt you to imagine the physical experience that the words represent.  By comparison, notice how hard it is to deal with abstract words.  Honor.  What happened in your imagination when you read that word?  You saw a blank.”

VERBS: ACTIVE VOICE VS. PASSIVE VOICE
One of the first admonitions writers learn is to use active voice rather than passive voice.  As explained by Gary Lutz and Diane Stevenson, the use of passive voice isn’t incorrect, “but it creates a strange and unnecessary sense of disembodied action.”  Examples provided by Lutz and Stevenson include: 
• (Active voice) John hit the ball.
• (Passive voice) The ball was hit by John. 

Another writer’s adage is “Show, don’t tell.”  Active voice is a characteristic of showing, while passive voice is a characteristic of telling.

MODIFIERS
The gross overuse of modifiers, sometimes in the form of “purple prose,” can stop a story in its tracks.  But even more subtle misuse of adjectives and adverbs can slow the momentum of a story. 

“Most modifiers are filler, cotton batting or sawdust, their modifications perfunctory or already implied,” observes Peter Selgin, in By Cunning & Craft.  And  “As for adverbs, they seldom add anything to an adjective that isn’t already there . . . .”

According to David Morrell, in Lessons from a Lifetime of Writing, “Adjectives tend to get in the way, overwhelming a description rather than sharpening it.”  Adverbs tend to have no other function than to strengthen weak verbs.”

“When you use two words, a weak verb and an adverb, to do the work of one strong verb, you dilute your writing and rob it of its potential power,” note Renni Browne and Dave King, in Self-Editing for Fiction Writers,

David Morrell, in Lessons from a Lifetime of Writing, “. . . economy doesn’t only mean reducing a description to its essentials.  It also means going for so clean a line that adjectives and adverbs become a sign of bad writing.”

Not all fiction-writing coaches agree on the avoidance of modifiers.  After all, adverbs and adjectives are fundamental parts of speech, so avoiding them entirely may be difficult.  According to Peter Selgin there is . . . “nothing wrong with adverbs and adjectives—as long as they pull more than their own weight by being fresh, unpredictable.  Above all they must add something that isn’t obvious or trite to the words they modify.”

COMPARATIVE DESCRIPTION
A common technique for building an emotional connection with the reader is the use of comparative description: similes and metaphors. 

Todd A. Stone, in Novelist’s Boot Camp, observes that “Similes and metaphors are like hand grenades—they are two of the oldest and most used descriptive techniques.  They’re powerful, but you must use them carefully to avoid cliches, mixed metaphors, and figures of speech that just don’t work.  Otherwise, they’ll blow up in the wrong place—your novel.”

TRANSMORPHIC DESCRIPTION
Another descriptive technique for building an emotional connection with the reader is to endow the subject with traits not usually associated to it.
• Animals or inanimate objects portrayed as people (think cartoons, fantasy, and comics)
• Inanimate objects or abstract concepts seemingly endowed with human self-awareness (think fighting trees in Lord of the Rings)
• Abstract ideas, people, or animals represented as a physical thing (think soldiers standing as a stone wall)
These techniques are sometimes described by somewhat overlapping terms such as anthropomorphism, personification, or objectification.  To borrow a term from science fiction, these techniques could be called transmorphic description. 

CLICHÉS VS. FRESH LANUGUAGE
In general, fresh language is preferred to clichés. 

“Clichés are born when someone, somewhere, comes up with a truly original bit of language, probably to describe something,” according to Les Edgerton in Hooked.

As stated by Ann Hood in Creating Character Emotion, “Clichés . . . are a kind of emotional shorthand . . . .” And “When we read a writer who relies on such emotional shorthand, we don’t trust what that writer is trying to say.”

“Triteness can move an acceptable phrase into the realm of the untouchable,” notes Michael Kurland in The Writer (March 2008).  And “Remember: Avoid hackneyed expressions, well, like the plague.”

In Hooked, Les Edgerton states “You’re a writer—use original language.  Be the kind of writer who comes up with such inventive phrases that others will eventually transform into clichés.” 

OBTRUSIVENESS
How much should description jump out at the reader?  How noticeable or prominent should description be?

“You don’t want the reader to notice your descriptions . . . ,” advises Janet Evanovich in How I Write.

As stated by David Madden, in the Writer’s Digest Handbook of Novel Writing, “Words, phrases and other material that call attention to themselves—or don’t add to the story—destroy immediacy by putting distance between the reader and your fictional world.”

“It often falls to the writer to make a description absolutely transparent so it doesn’t intrude between the reader and the action.  And if the writer achieves that, the reader never notices the words,” according to Michael Kurland (The Writer, March 2008).

DISGUISED DESCRIPTION
Should any particular bit of description stand on its own, presented directly from the narrator (as narrated description)?  Or should it be disguised by mixing it in with other fiction-writing modes (such as action, dialogue, introspection, recollection, sensation)?

Les Edgerton, in Hooked, states that “Today, static (or passive) description is eschewed in favor of active description, description incorporated within the action of the scene itself, so the bit of description doesn’t stop the scene or even slow it down noticeably.”

“You want your description to exist as part of action and emotion . . . ,” according to Sandra Scofield, in The Scene Book.

In Lessons from a Lifetime of Writing, David Morrell notes that “Description also fails when it is static.  Too often, scenes are constructed so that a character arrives at a locale, the locale is described in one lump, and then the action continues.  A much better tactic involves using details of the setting as part of the action.”

NARRATIVE VS. POINT-OF-VIEW DESCRIPTION
Should description flow from the narrator (as in narrative description) or should it appear to flow through the mind of a point-of-view character?

Janet Evanovich, in How I Write, hints at the answer when she observes that  “. . .  you want [the readers] to feel like they’re right next to your characters, experiencing the scene as the character does.”

Donald Maas, in Writing the Breakout Novel, notes that since the invention of the novel it has been transformed by a progressive narrowing of point of view: from the once-essential author’s voice, to omniscient narration, to objective narration, to first- and third-person narration, and most recently to close third-person narration.  According to Maass, today’s reader wants an authentic experience.  Skillful inclusion of description from a character’s point of view can go a long way toward adding verisimilitude to fiction, involving the reader, and making it seem more realistic.

David Madden, in Writer’s Digest Handbook for Novel Writing, sums it up “Filter all description through point of view.”

Broadly defining description to include almost all writing provides little help to fiction writers.  More narrowly defining description to exclude the other fiction-writing modes, however, focuses attention on numerous opportunities to enhance the reader’s emotional experience.  How a writer uses description and the skill with which he presents description is, of course, an important aspect of his unique writing style. 

For more information about description as a fiction-writing mode, see
http:www.helium.com/items/1196722-description-as-a-fiction-writing-mode

Description is the fiction-writing mode for transmitting a mental image of the particulars of a story.  It’s through description that characters, plot, and setting are portrayed.  Description may also be used to help develop one or more of a story’s themes.  And, of course, how and when description is utilized throughout a story are important aspects of an author’s unique writing style. 

Description is one of the most widely recognized of the fiction-writing modes, together with dialogue, narration, exposition, and summarization.  Unfortunately (as with many concepts used in the craft of fiction) the term description has both broad definition and narrow definition, which may lead to confusion and ineffective use. 

As observed by Peter Selgin in By Cunning & Craft, “. . . all writing is descriptive.”  In fact, under the broadest of definitions, all of the other fiction-writing modes could be described as subcategories of description:
• What is action, if not a description of activity as it happens?
• What is narration, if not a descriptive account by the narrator?
• What is conversation (or dialogue), if not a description of speech?
• What is exposition, if not a descriptive transmittal of information?
• What is summarization, if not a descriptive summary of events?
• What is introspection, if not a description of a character’s thoughts?
• What is sensation, if not a description of a character’s perception of the senses?
• What is transition, if not a description of a shift in time, space, or viewpoint?
• What is emotion, if not a description of a character’s feelings?
• What is recollection, if not a description of recalled memory?
Such a broad definition has limited value in understanding fiction or writing it: it’s comparable to describing a poinsettia as a plant.  A more useful definition of description includes only those aspects of description not otherwise addressed through the other fiction-writing modes: description in its purest sense. 

Even a more narrow definition of description leaves quite a few issues to be addressed. 
• Which word is better than another?
• Not every detail may be included in the story, so which details of description should be selected?
• How much description is appropriate?
• How and when should concrete nouns be used instead of abstract nouns, or vice versa?
• How and when should active voice be used instead of passive voice, or vice versa?
• How and when should modifiers (adjectives and adverbs) be used to enhance description? 
• How and when should clichés be used or avoided?
• When should comparative description (similes and metaphors) be used?
• When should transmorphic description (anthropomorphism, personification, objectification) be used?
• When does description become too obtrusive?
• How may description be disguised?
• Should description be presented directly by the narrator of the story or should it seem to flow through a point-of-view character? 

Although description is one of the most widely recognized and appreciated fiction-writing modes, failure to appropriately define it (as it relates to other fiction-writing modes), diminishes the likelihood that description will be fully analyzed and understood by students of fiction.  Failure to identify and address the numerous issues faced by an author when presenting description reduces the likelihood that description will be utilized skillfully and to its full potential.

For more information about fiction-writing modes see
http://www.helium.com/items/197336-fiction-writing-modes-and-how-to-use-them

The more I learn about writing fiction, the more I realize how complicated and challenging it can be to tell an interesting story.  A quote from Ernest Hemingway gives me some comfort, "We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master."
 
Most of what I've learned about writing has been by studying how-to books about fiction.  I'm grateful to authors who have taken time to study the craft and then share their knowledge through fiction-writing seminars, articles, and books.  I've reviewed many of the books I have studied over the years, and I've posted the reviews on my blog and at Helium.com.

I've noticed that, although most fiction-writing books offer useful insight into the craft, no one book has all the answers. Some books offer advice that conflicts with recommendations in others, and some advice is more confusing than helpful.  In an effort to help others better understand the craft of fiction-writing, I've written a series of articles on the subject of fiction-writing and have posted them on my blog and at Helium.com.
 
To view a list of my articles and book reviews, just scroll down this page. Categories include:
• Young-adult fiction
• Fundamentals of fiction
• Fiction-writing: a learning process
• Reviews of books about writing fiction

If you would like to be notified promptly when I post a new entry to this blog, please use the "Subscribe" button on the lower-right of the screen. 

Happy Writing,

Mike Klaassen

YOUNG-ADULT FICTION

YOUNG-ADULT FICTION: What Makes a Great Novel for Boys?
http://www.helium.com/tm/772208/young-adult-fiction-makes

VIOLENCE IN YOUNG-ADULT FICTION: Acceptable, Beneficial, or Inexcusable?
http://www.helium.com/tm/347575/violence-childrens-fiction-think

CUSS, CURSE, OR CLEAN IT UP: How Much, if Any, Profanity to Use in Young-Adult Fiction
http://www.helium.com/tm/197281/curse-clean-uphow-profanity

FUNDAMENTALS OF FICTION

THE FIFTH ELEMENT: The "Other Stuff" of Fiction
http://www.helium.com/tm/197298/fifth-element-other-stuff

FICTION-WRITING SCHIZOPHRENIA: The Relationship Between Author, Narrator, Character, and Reader
http://www.helium.com/tm/197356/fiction-writing-schizophrenia-relationship

SCENE & SEQUEL: The Ebb and Flow of Fiction
http://www.helium.com/tm/197378/scene-sequel-fictionscene-sequel

FICTION-WRITING MODES: The Tools of a Novelist
http://www.helium.com/tm/197336/fiction-writing-modes-tools

SUMMARIZATION: An Unfairly Maligned Fiction-Writing Mode
http://www.helium.com/tm/558240/summarization-unfairly-maligned-fiction

INTROSPECTION: The Thinking Mode of Fiction-Writing
http://www.helium.com/tm/624520/introspection-thinking-fiction-writingintrospection

FICTION-WRITING: How to Write Your Character's Thoughts
http://www.helium.com/tm/614947/mechanics-introspection-fiction-writing

FICTION-WRITING: How to Portray Your Character's Perception of the Senses
http://www.helium.com/tm/773895/sensation-fiction-writing-portraying

NARRATION AS A FICTION-WRITING MODE
http://www.helium.com/tm/865120/narration-fiction-writing-narration

FICTION-WRITING: Enhancing character emotion
http://www.helium.com/items/1093659-enhancing-character-emotion-in-fiction

FICTION WRITING: Transferring emotion from author to character to reader   http://www.helium.com/items/1093604-transferring-emotion-from-author-to-character-to-reader

FICTION WRITING: Emotion as a fiction-writing mode
http://www.helium.com/items/1093579-emotion-as-a-fiction-writing-mode

Description as a Fiction-Writing Mode
http://www.helium.com/items/1196722-description-as-a-fiction-writing-mode


Fiction-Writing: Bringing Words to Life with Description
http://www.helium.com/items/1204958-how-to-write-description-in-fiction



FICTION-WRITING: A Learning Process

The Next Great American Novel
http://www.helium.com/tm/341138/great-american-novelso-write

FICTION-WRITING BOOKS: Gold Mine or Slag Heap?
http://www.helium.com/tm/281407/fiction-writing-books-heapcritics

CRITIQUE GROUPS: Boon or Bane?
http://www.helium.com/tm/259765/critique-groups-banefrom-wonder

BLANK PAGE TO PUBLICATION: One Writer's Experience
http://www.helium.com/tm/249438/blank-publication-writers-experiencemy

THE BEST BOOKS ABOUT WRITING FICTION
http://www.helium.com/tm/233722/books-about-writing-fiction

The Importance of Self-Editing Fiction
http://www.helium.com/tm/197407/importance-editing-fictionaccording-renni

REVIEWS OF BOOKS ABOUT WRITING FICTION (in alphabetic order by title)

BETWEEN THE LINES: Master the Subtle Elements of Fiction, by Jessica Page Morrell
http://www.helium.com/tm/197463/review-between-lines-master

BY CUNNING & CRAFT, by Peter Selgin
http://www.helium.com/tm/517956/peter-selgins-cunning-craft

CHARACTERS, EMOTION, & VIEWPOINT: Techniques and Exercises for Crafting Dynamic Characters and Effective Viewpoints, by Nancy Kress
http://www.helium.com/tm/209275/review-characters-emotion-viewpoint

DARE TO BE A GREAT WRITER: 329 Keys to Powerful Fiction, by Leonard Bishop
http://www.helium.com/tm/214249/review-great-writer-powerful

DESCRIPTION & SETTING, by Ron Rozelle
http://www.helium.com/tm/209258/review-description-setting-rozelle

DIALOGUE: Techniques and Exercises for Crafting Effective Dialogue, by Gloria Kempton
http://www.helium.com/tm/209267/review-dialogue-techniques-exercises

FICTION FIRST AID: Instant Remedies for Novels, Stories, and Scripts, by Raymond Obstfeld
http://www.helium.com/tm/209348/review-fiction-first-instant

FINDING YOUR VOICE: How to Put Personality in Your Writing, by Les Edgerton
http://www.helium.com/tm/197480/review-finding-voice-personality

FIRST DRAFT IN 30 DAYS: A Novel Writer's System for Building a Complete and Cohesive Manuscript, by Karen Wiesner
http://www.helium.com/tm/198677/review-first-draft-novel

HOOKED: Write Fiction That Grabs Readers at Page One and Never Lets Them Go, by Les Edgerton
http://www.helium.com/tm/690865/books-about-fiction-writing

HOW I WRITE: Secrets of a Bestselling Author, by Janet Evanovich
http://www.helium.com/tm/381942/blasthow-write-janet-evanovich

HOW TO WRITE A DAMN GOOD NOVEL, by Evan Marshall
http://www.helium.com/items/1153909-how-to-write-a-novel

HOW TO WRITE AND SELL HISTORICAL FICTION, by Persia Woolsey
http://www.helium.com/tm/238597/review-write-historical-fiction

LESSONS FROM A LIFETIME OF WRITING, by David Morrell
http://www.helium.com/tm/334227/fascinating-informativelessons-lifetime-writing

NOVELIST'S BOOT CAMP: 101 Ways to Take Your Book from Boring to Bestseller, by Todd A. Stone
http://www.helium.com/tm/197494/review-novelists-boring-bestseller

PLOT & STRUCTURE: Techniques and Exercises for Crafting a Plot That Grips Readers from Start to Finish, by James Scott Bell
http://www.helium.com/tm/209201/review-structure-techniques-exercises

ROBERT'S RULES OF WRITING: 101 Unconventional Lessons Every Writer Needs to Know, by Robert Mosello
http://www.helium.com/tm/202633/witty-refreshing-scrambled-format

SCENE & STRUCTURE: How to Construct Fiction with Scene-by-Scene Flow, Logic and Readability, by Jack M. Bickham
http://www.helium.com/tm/197505/review-scene-structure-construct

SELF-EDITING FOR FICTION WRITERS, by Renni Browne and Dave King
http://www.helium.com/tm/238223/review-ofself-editing-fiction

TEACH YOURSELF: Writing a Novel, by Nigel Watts
http://www.helium.com/tm/229807/review-ofteach-yourself-writing

THE MARSHALL PLAN FOR GETTING YOUR NOVEL PUBLISHED: 90 Strategies and Techniques for Selling Your Fiction, by Evan Marshall
http://www.helium.com/tm/226410/review-marshall-getting-novel

THE MARSHALL PLAN FOR NOVEL WRITING, by Evan Marshall
http://www.helium.com/tm/197471/review-ofthe-marshall-novel

THE MARSHALL PLAN FOR NOVEL WRITING TEMPLATE GENERATOR, by Evan Marshall and Martha Jewett
http://www.helium.com/items/1148827-marshall-plan-evan-marshall-marshall-novel-writing-template-generator-software

WRITING THE BREAKOUT NOVEL, by Donald Maass
http://www.helium.com/tm/214371/review-writing-breakout-novelby

20 MASTER PLOTS (And How to Build Them),  by Ronald B. Tobias
http://www.helium.com/tm/228001/review-master-plots-build

45 MASTER CHARACTERS: Mythic Models for Creating Original Characters, by Victoria Lynn Schmidt
http://www.helium.com/tm/214287/review-master-characters-mythic

REVIEWS OF BOOKS ABOUT GRAMMAR, PUNCTUATION, AND STYLE

EATS, SHOOTS & LEAVES: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation, by Lynne Truss
http://www.helium.com/tm/198735/shoots-leaves-tolerance-approach

ON WRITING WELL: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction, by William Zinsser
http://www.helium.com/tm/336739/writing-william-zinsser-meant

THE SOUND ON THE PAGE: Great Writers Talk About Style and Voice in Writing, by Ben Yagoda
http://www.helium.com/tm/229869/review-sound-great-writers

The Writer's Digest GRAMMAR DESK REFERENCED, by Gary Lutz and Diane Stevenson
http://www.helium.com/tm/197239/review-writers-digest-grammar

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According to Mildred I. Reid, in the Writer’s Digest Guide to Good Writing, there is only one must in creative writing: the author must transfer an emotional experience to the reader.  Gloria Kempton, in Dialogue, provides an avenue for transferring that emotion when she observes that “The only way to connect with our reader on an emotional level is to first connect with our characters.” And, “The way we do this is to make sure our characters connect with themselves.” 

EMOTION AND THE ELEMENTS OF FICTION
As pointed out by James N. Frey, in How to Write a Damn Good Novel, “The reading of novels is primarily an emotional experience.” 

Each of the five fundamental elements of fiction (character, plot, setting, theme, and style) plays a role in creating emotion.   It’s through characters, of course, that authors portray emotion, and thus transfer it to the reader.  Emotions can be present anywhere in a plot, but they are especially important when:
• Providing and reinforcing a character’s motivation
• Creating a catalyst for a story’s turning points
• Portraying the emotion phase of sequels. 
Setting may establish the tone of individual scenes, or the story as a whole, and thus help stimulate character and reader emotion.  A character’s emotions may also provide a common thread for the development of one or more of a story’s themes.  And, of course, how and when emotion is utilized throughout a story and the skill with which emotion is presented are important aspects of an author’s unique writing style. 

NARRATIVE DISTANCE 
Donald Maas, in Writing the Breakout Novel, notes that since the invention of the novel it has been transformed by a progressive narrowing of point of view: from the once-essential author’s voice, to omniscient narration, to objective narration, to first- and third-person narration, and most recently to close third-person narration.  According to Maass, today’s reader wants an authentic experience. 

Many modern-day readers expect to live the story through the mind of the character, experiencing the story as if the reader is the character.  Effective use of emotion as a fiction-writing mode can go a long way toward making that experience a virtual reality.

READER INVOLVEMENT
Orson Scott Card observes that “Reading is not a passive process.  While a reader may seem to be sitting still, slowly turning pages, in his or her own mind he is going through a great many emotions.”  And “. . . the intensity of the character’s feeling, as long as it remains believable and bearable, will greatly intensify the reader’s feelings—whatever they are.”

As explained by Ron Rozelle, in Description and Setting, “Sometimes you’ll be nudging your readers toward what you want them to feel when they read your fiction, so they can associate a feeling that they might never have experienced with one that they probably have.” 

Many times the reader’s emotional response will mirror the character’s emotions, but sometimes not.  For example, a viewpoint character may enjoy torturing a victim, but the reader might be appalled.  A character may enjoy a tender love scene, but the reader may be horrified because he suspects that one of the characters is a serial killer. 

Orson Scott Card notes that “You can’t control everything the reader feels, and no two members of your audience will ever be emotionally involved in your story exactly to the same degree.  Still, there are some things you can control, and if you use them deftly, without letting them get out of hand, you can lead most of your audience to intense emotional involvement with your characters.”

CONCLUSION
Faith Baldwin (1893-1978), in an article reprinted in The Writer, March 2008, summed up the value of emotion eloquently: “The quality in a book or story that most impresses and interests me as a reader is sincere emotion.”  She also observed that, “Any book or story worth the paper it’s printed on must have genuine emotion, communicated by the writer to the character and by the character to the reader.”

Emotion is one of eleven fiction-writing modes, arranged below in order of the anagram D-A-N-C-E S-I-S-T-E-R:
• Description is the mode by which people, things, or concepts are described.
• Action is the mode of describing things happening, in detail, as they happen. 
• Narration is the mode by which the narrator addresses the reader.
• Conversation is the mode of presenting characters talking.
• Exposition is the mode of conveying information.
• Summarization is the mode of restating or recapitulating actions or events.
• Introspection is the mode of conveying a character’s thinking.
• Sensation is the mode of presenting the five senses, or maybe even six. 
• Transition is the mode of moving from one place, time, or character to another.
• Emotion is the mode of conveying how a character feels. 
• Recollection is the mode of describing a character recalling something.

Find more articles about fiction-writing modes by searching with the modes as key words. 

In published fiction, the portrayal of character emotion may appear to be seamless, almost effortless.  In reality the finished product is the result of hard work by an author using six basic techniques for portraying emotion:
• Stating emotion
• Explaining emotion
• Dialogue
• Introspection
• Bodily reaction
• Action 

In addition to using the basic techniques for portraying emotion, the author faces other issues and opportunities during the actual process of writing:
• Context
• Sacrifice
• Repetition
• Clichés/Fresh Language
• Setting
• Selection of technique
• Choice of emotion
• Range of emotion
• Intensity
• Melodrama/Sentimentality
• Emotional complexity
• Emotional consistency
• Emotional journey

CONTEXT
According to Renni Browne and David King, in Self-Editing for Fiction-Writers, simply telling readers about an emotion may not be the best way.  A better way is to show why the character feels as he does.  You don’t want to give your readers information.  You want to give them experiences.”

Orson Scott Card, in Characters and Viewpoint, notes that “. . . you increase the power of suffering, not by describing the injury or loss in greater detail, but rather by showing more of its causes and effect.”

Emotions usually don’t just pop up in a vacuum, they require development.  Successful portrayal of emotion depends on context, which requires planning for a buildup to make emotion feel genuine. 

SACRIFICE
According to Card, “Pain or grief also increase a reader’s intensity in proportion to a character’s degree of choice.  Self-chosen suffering for the sake of a greater good—sacrifice, in other words—is far more intense than pain alone.”

REPETITION
Also states Card, “Suffering loses effectiveness with repetition.  . . . the first time you mention a character’s grief, it raises his stature and makes the reader more emotionally involved.  But if you keep harping on the character’s suffering, the reader begins to feel that the character is whining, and the reader’s emotional involvement decreases.”  By the third or fourth time, the character becomes comic, and her pain is a joke.”

CLICHÉS/FRESH LANGUAGE
Emotion, as a fiction-writing mode, is fertile ground for clichés.  Examples provided by Ann Hood, in Creating Character Emotion, include:
• a heart pounding
• mad as a hornet
• one tear rolling down a cheek
• green with envy
• butterflies in her stomach
• a face as red as a beet
• happy as a clam

“One of the problems with this,” explains Hood, “is that clichés simply fall out of our heads and onto the paper.  We don’t even know it’s happening.  But,” she asks, “are they effective writing?” 

Far more difficult, Hood notes, is to find a fresh way to evoke an emotion.  She encourages writers to be meticulous in fresh description of emotions, to search for the description that jumps out at readers, fits perfectly, and stays with them long after the story has ended. 

SETTING
The setting of a story can help suggest emotion, either as props for demonstrating emotion, or as a backdrop to create a mood. 

In The Anatomy of Story, John Truby says, “The process of translating the story line into a physical story world, which then elicits certain emotions in the audience, is a difficult one.  That’s because you are really speaking two languages—one of words, the other of images—and matching them exactly over the course of the story.”

An example of using a prop to suggest emotion:
As Cisco approached the livery stable, he pulled the tin star off his shirt and slipped it into his pocket. 

An example of using setting to suggest a mood or to enhance it:
As Cisco approached the livery stable, thunder rumbled in the distance. 
 
SELECTION OF TECHNIQUE
Just because a writer’s emotion-stimulating toolbox contains many tools, doesn’t mean he should use all of them for every task. 

According to Ann Hood, sometimes not saying what is felt makes the emotion seem even stronger than dialogue.  And also, “Don’t fall into the trap of stating the emotion you want the reader to see, then forcing your character to act in a predictable way.”

Sometimes what is left out of a story is just as important as what is put in.  Orson Scott Card provides a specific example “. . . if your characters cry, your readers won’t have to; if your characters have good reason to cry, and don’t, your readers will do that weeping.”

CHOICE OF EMOTION
Even a partial list of emotions includes many choices:
Repulsion, terror, ecstasy, passion, love, hate, desire, fear, anger, disgust, spite, forgiveness, annoyance, peevishness.

With so many alternatives, which emotion should a writer choose?  It depends, of course, on the context of the story and the writer’s objectives.  But according to Nancy Kress, there is one emotion that stands out as the most useful in fiction: frustration.  Without frustration, there is no plot.  Frustration means the character isn’t getting what he wants.  When in doubt, she says, writers should frustrate their characters.  In fiction, the default emotion is frustration. 

RANGE OF EMOTION
During the ebb and flow of the story, a character should experience a variety of emotions appropriate to the circumstances.  Ann Hood notes that “Characters should have a range of emotion to give them depth and complexity.  Otherwise, we end up with fiction filled with stereotypes, flat characters moving through an unbelievable world.” 

INTENSITY
Even within the context of a single emotion, or a set of related emotions, there is a range of intensity.  For example,
• Mild annoyance to uncontrollable rage, or
• Amusement to hysterical laughter. 

Which range of intensity is most useful?  Orson Scott Card notes that “The most powerful uses of physical and emotional pain are somewhere between the trivial and the unbearable.”

MELODRAMA/SENTAMENTALITY
According to an old adage, writers should “open a vein” and let the emotion flow.  But there can be too much of a good thing.  The opposite of unemotional portrayal of characters is the melodramatic or sentimental portrayal of characters. 

The words melodramatic and sentimental mean different things to different people, but dictionary definitions include exaggerated, overdramatic, excessive, and indulgent.  The common ground refers not so much to intensity but to appropriateness within context.

EMOTIONAL COMPLEXITY
According to Ann Hood, “Perhaps the most important thing to remember when searching for emotional honesty is that emotion is not one-dimensional.  Emotions are complex and often mixed together.  Think of a bride on her wedding day.  It would be too easy and too flat to describe her as simply happy.  Instead, she is excited, apprehensive, worried, fearful, anxious, joyful, smug—so many emotions!” 

In Writers Digest, August 2004, Nancy Kress echoes this thought:  “Frustration isn’t a ‘pure’ emotion.”  It can come mixed with many others: anger, hurt, fear, self-blame, resignation, bitterness, and more.

Sometimes these emotions feed off one another in an emotional swarm. 

An example of mixed emotions:
Cisco paused at the door.  If he stepped into the street and faced Black Bart, he might be able to stop Bart from hurting innocent people.  But Cisco also realized that his chances of surviving the fight were slim.  Bart was fast with a six shooter—very fast.

EMOTIONAL CONSISTENCY
Characters are a representation of humans, and that means they are both consistent and inconsistent in their emotions.  Ann Hood reminds writers that Aristotle observed that a character should be “consistently inconsistent,” which does not mean characters jump from emotion to emotion recklessly but rather that they move believably from one emotion to the next.

Nancy Kress, in Writers Digest, August 2004, puts it a different way, “Not only do different people experience different mixes of emotions when frustrated, but also the same person may experience different mixes at different times.”

EMOTIONAL JOURNEY
Coincident with a story’s physical journey is the character’s emotional journey, which may appear as an emotional rollercoaster that, in turn, provides the character with internal growth.

James N. Frey in How to Write a Damn Good Novel says, “. . . look at your character’s emotional level at the beginning of the scene and at the end of the scene.  There should be a step-by-step change in the character from, say, cool to fearful, spiteful to forgiving, cruel to passionate, or the like, in every scene.”  Regarding the story as a whole, he observes, “By the climax . . . the character is fully revealed because the reader has seen him acting and reacting at each emotional level.”

CONCLUSION
Emotion may be conveyed with six basic techniques, but numerous other issues and opportunities exist for an effective transfer of emotion to characters and ultimately to the reader. 

Emotion is one of eleven fiction-writing modes, arranged below in order of the anagram D-A-N-C-E S-I-S-T-E-R:
• Description is the mode by which people, things, or concepts are described.
• Action is the mode of describing things happening, in detail, as they happen. 
• Narration is the mode by which the narrator addresses the reader.
• Conversation is the mode of presenting characters talking.
• Exposition is the mode of conveying information.
• Summarization is the mode of restating or recapitulating actions or events.
• Introspection is the mode of conveying a character’s thinking.
• Sensation is the mode of presenting the five senses, or maybe even six. 
• Transition is the mode of moving from one place, time, or character to another.
• Emotion is the mode of conveying how a character feels. 
• Recollection is the mode of describing a character recalling something.