Exposition
Exposition provides a backstory or foundation to ground the reader in whom the story is about as well as when and where the story takes place.
If we use the analogy of a mountain peak where the mountain is the story and the mountain climber is the reader, before a mountain climber can begin climbing, there must be a time of preparation for what lies ahead. To propel a reader “up the mountain,” the writer has to lay a foundation or provide backstory, or the reader will be lost and become disinterested.
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An exposition can be as brief as a couple of sentences, it can be a paragraph, or it can be several pages in length. The length depends on what the writer feels the reader needs to know in order to draw the reader into the story world.
The exposition is the writer’s opportunity to establish who the characters are, where they are, and what’s going on in the characters’ lives.
The exposition is the writer’s opportunity to establish who the characters are, where they are, and what’s going on in the characters’ lives.
Click the story title to review exposition in “Blessed Silence” before completing the section below.
Additional Resource:
- "Elements of Fiction" by ReadWriteThink - This website looks at the components that make up exposition such as setting and character; it also provides a general overview of the elements discussed in this website.