What is Exposition? Is it Different to 'Show, don't Tell'?

Is there a difference between exposition and telling?

Exposition is a literary device used to introduce background information about characters, settings, and events in a story. It provides necessary context for readers to understand the plot. I always think that exposition explains story, providing background and back-story, establishing the setting and introducing characters.  

"Show, don't tell" is a writing technique that encourages authors to convey emotions and actions through sensory details and character behaviour rather than through straightforward exposition. This method allows readers to experience the story more vividly. Key aspects include: sensory details: describing what characters see, hear, smell, taste, and feel; character actions; illustrating emotions through actions rather than stating them outright, and dialogue: Using conversations to reveal character traits and emotions without explicit explanations.

When used to poor effect, exposition is the ‘tell’ of show, don’t tell. Overused, or wrongly used, exposition can ravage a good story in the making. It becomes particularly redundant when the writer allows the actions to be held up by ‘telling’, rather than ‘showing’ ––that is, the creation of scenes that drop the reader into the character’s lives with action and dialogue. It can also take the shine away when it appears in dialogue or interior monologue, or through epistolary form, such as newspaper articles or emails. 

You can broadly (but not absolutely) think that; 

exposition = tell

scenes = show  

In a scene the character is present in every sense – literally – of the word – their five senses are operating there and then, and their sixth sense – the way they experience the world – is operating too. To show this happening pulls the reader in.

Treat exposition warily. Depending on ‘tell’ to lay out your story is almost always unwise. However, exposition isn’t all bad. Although readers mostly think about exposition as the boring chunks of narrative that open a story to tell them what’s already happened (especially in 19th C literature), it can also  describe, elucidate, clarify, interpret or summarise story, because;

1. There would be too many scenes (or too big a flashback) 
2. a link needs to be made (i.e. between space or time)
3. the author must convey information quickly (this is often when it’s useful in dialogue)
4. The narrator wants to guide readers through some story stages. 

Dramatise your exposition 

If it can be useful, how do we prevent exposition becoming dull? If the background information, such as the historical elements, or ‘world building elements,  is getting ‘told’ in chunks of exposition on the page, then take a breath, and rewrite, because such contextual stage-setting  is best ‘shown’ as the story builds. 

This is particularly true if you have needed to closely research information for your story.  Bear in the front of your mind that, although it was interesting to learn, and although it took you blood sweat and tears, it is not what the reader wants to know about…not via exposition, anyway. They long for character conflicts and the sparks that fly from relationships.

In my novel In the Moors, available on Kindle and paperback, I needed to explain what had happened to Sabbie's hens overnight. I could have just used exposition...the fox got in and killed most of the birds...but that's as dull as ditchwater, when I can use 'show':

    At the henhouse door I dropped my empty basket and cried out in raw distress. Slaughter lay at my feet. Saffron, the biggest of my hens, was gone, and Pettitgrain, my favourite, lay in the run, dead from a clean bite to the neck.

    The henhouse smelt of gore. Sickness swelled in my stomach, an expansion of loathing for the fox, no doubt now slumbering, replete. My brave cockerel, Cocky Bastard, who must have defended his harem to the last, lay on his side twitching steadily. I picked him up. His body was bloodied and broken. His eyes stared deep into mine. Quickly I broke his neck.                                                          The three remaining birds huddled in a corner making low, tense cluckings, as if they were discussing their traumatic night in hushed whispers... 

 

The info dump

The information dump is a phrase used colloquially by scriptwriters, but it’s also something that can be an issue for writers of novels and short stories. An info dump is a type of exposition, commonly a gambit used when the writer wants the reader to know something that the characters already know, but also used to overcome other information issues. I've covered this issue in this blogpost

Part of the redrafting process is to check for unnecessary exposition, and liven it up by transforming it into 'show'. Have a look at one of your pieces of work, to check if you can get rid of any and help your story shine!

Books to Read While it Snows

 

If novels set at holiday destinations are the best books to read beside a pool, then surely books describing terrible winters are ideal snowy weather companions...so long as you are sitting snug beside a roaring fire, wrapped in fleeces with a hot chocolate drink on the coffee table.

This is how Robert Macfarlane opens his book, The Old Ways...

Two days short of the winter solstice, the turn of the year's tide. All that cold day, the city and the countryside around felt halted, paused. Five degrees below freezing and the earth battened down. Clouds held snow that would not fall. Out in the suburbs the schools were closed, people homebound, the pavememts rinky and the roads black-iced. The sun ran a shallow arc across the sky. Then just before the dusk the snow came––dropping straight for five hours and settling at a stead inch an hour…At around eight o'clock the snow ceased. An hour later I went for a walk with a flask of whisky to keep me warm…

The Old Ways follows the ancient tracks that crisscross Britain, but maybe it's no coincidence that Macfarlane opens his wanderings in snow. It reminded me of how I love a snowy walk, and will get out as soon as the blizzard stops, bundled into scarf, gloves, hat and extra socks. Four years ago I wrote on this blog;

I whistled my dog into the field beside my garden. It is clothed in snow, and the glow from the moon coated the snowy field in an eerie yellow light. This is our morning ritual, to get out and walk around the 10 acre field together before even a cup of tea. As I crunched through the snow, a thought occurred to me. What's the connection between you, me and everyone else on the planet today?

And now, deep snow is back in West Wales, a place used to drifts, white-outs and gritting lorries, and I'm still walking around the fields and lanes with my dog. The red kites are wheeling in sky, riding the air currents as if for the sheer fun of it, and the sun is golden over the valley.  I can feel my cheeks redden as I walk, and I can't help remembering three novels that made me feel as frosty as I do now. 

 

The Land in Winter by Andrew Miller, was shortlisted for the 2025 Booker Prize, and I couldn't help drawing closer to the fire as I read the descriptions of the terrible winter of '62/'63. In a small West Country village, two young couples get to know each over the Christmas period. Rita and Bill have taken on a dairy farm and are trying to make a go of it. Eric the GP, and Irene, his pregnant wife don't think they have much in common but when Irene discovers Rita is also having a baby, they become friends.  Eric has a dark secret, and Rita has a past she'd like to keep secret. At a Boxing Day party, everyone becomes far too drunk, while outside the blizzard begins to rage.

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey is set in 1920's Alaskan homestead. Jack and Mabel are childless, and drifting apart, under the weight of farmwork and loneliness. Following the pattern of a fairystory,  the couple build a

child out of snow, which strangely melts overnght. They glimpse a young, blonde-haired girl running through the trees, Faina. She hunts with a red fox at her side, surviving alone in the Alaskan wilderness. Jack and Mabel come to love her as their own daughter. But what they eventually learn about Faina will transform all of them.

Angela Carter also has a story called The Snow Child, the shortest tale in The Bloody Chamber. A Count sees snow on the ground while out for a ride with his wife, and wishes for a child ‘as white as snow', leading to an extremely bloody outcome. 

I first read Miss Smilla's Feeling For Snow by Peter Høeg in 1992.  A neighbour's neglected six-year-old boy dies in a tragic accident, and a peculiar intuition tells Miss Smilla it was murder. This was such an unusual, unpredictable and beautifully written crime fiction, set in the snowy winters of  Copenhagen, that I've never forgotten it.

Winter Solstice by Rosamunde Pilcher, has a warm theme of loss and the healing power of love, which will get you toasting your tootsies.

But if you want some that will really give you the chills, don't forget The Shining by Steven King. A classic snowy horror.

 

Weeding out those writing opportunities!

Let me welcome our guest writer for November, with a blogpost about finding affordable opportunities for developing your craft. 

Written by Deborah Barry.

 The catalyst for rediscovering the craft 

2020 – lockdown year – I completed my Open University Modern Languages degree and rediscovered my love of writing along the way. Deprived of a graduation ceremony – the elation of seeing my short Spanish story entitled  Luna in print (Open University: A Multilingual Decameron) – was spine-tingling. Family and friends pestered – what was this traumatised child’s story about? So, the seeds of my debut novel Speak To Me were sewn. 

Arvon – offering equality 

 The Hurst 

A work colleague recommended the Arvon Organisation and I have nothing but praise, having  found their support invaluable as I navigated the world of writing as a fledging writer. A fully-inclusive charity that supports all writers – their only requirement is to love writing!  They offer a wealth of courses for writers at all stages of their development. There are both concession rates (around a third off the full course fee), grants (for those on low incomes) and occasionally fully-funded places for under-represented writers.  I applied and was very fortunate to secure a fully-funded place on a creative non-fiction tutored retreat at The Hurst in Shropshire.  The tutored retreat – offering a balance of structure and free time to write/rest – was ideal. Classes typically started at 10am with a coffee break and finished at 1pm.  All meals were provided, lunch is prepared by Arvon’s staff, all very healthy, using local ingredients. Supper is a team affair, with readings by one of the two tutors and a guest

speaker. Sharing our work on the last evening was daunting but so good for building your self-confidence as a writer. 

I have since returned to The Hurst for a Self-Editing course and Arvon

published my experience on their blogs: https://www.arvon.org/my-arvon-week-debi-barry/ One final point – the courses present an excellent networking opportunity – I am still in contact with a tutor who is a published author and her advice has been invaluable.  Also I’m still in touch with some of the writers I met.  It was both refreshing and soul-warming to know other writers suffer the same insecurities as you do!

 The Literary Consultancy is the main organisation behind the Free Reads scheme which is an Arts Council England funded initiative. Applications go through a regional writing partner, e.g. the National Centre for Writing, Arvon and Spread the Word. They offer a free initial manuscript appraisal they offer to talented writers from marginalised backgrounds  and under-represented groups.  If successful, an initial report on the first 15,000 words of your manuscript is provided.  They offer a 100% (and 2 at 50%) bursary on their 6-week Self Editing Fiction course, whichI found it hugely beneficial as I had my work assessed by an established crime writer who commented on all the key areas of writing a novel: theme(s), characterisation, plot (conflict, climax), voice, setting, POV (point of view) e.g. 1st, 2nd or 3rd person and dialogue.

I enjoyed working with Jon Barton, an award-winning author.  As well as 12 hours of live teaching online, I received a report ahead of my initial 1:1 session with Jon (based on a small sample of my writing). I was impressed with the level of detail Jon gave given the extract was small. His feedback was constructive and thought-provoking and will definitely help me in honing my manuscript to a submission standard.  A wealth of digital resources are available during and after the course has finished, which have proven extremely useful as I wrestle with my second draft.  The small group dynamic (maximum of 12 per course) also helped me work collaboratively with other writers which is sometimes difficult in the virtual world.  TLC offer a range of resources for writers – many of which are free to download; https://literaryconsultancy.co.uk/resources/. 

Calling female writers!

Mslexia magazine is a great resource, offering both support, courses as well as submission opportunities.  They offer bursary places on their on-line courses. I successfully applied for 

a place on an Editing Your Novel course a few years ago.  Although very intensive (9.00 – 5.00pm each day for a week) the quality of both the teaching and wealth of resources was very high. 

There is a quarterly magazine available – digital is available on a quarterly recurring subscription (£6.99) or one-year subscription (£22.99), the printed version is £32/year by DD on a recurring subscription or £42 as a one-off payment.

They offer membership to the Salon for an additional £10 which gives you free entry to specific submissions not available to ordinary members and a wealth of resources and writing tips. I’d definitely recommend subscribing!  https://mslexia.co.uk/

Be brave!

Five years on, I’m on my second draft and hope to send it out in 2026.  I have  a huge sense of accomplishment at the opportunities I’ve managed to secure over this time as well as an extensive writer’s tool-kit. 

Grants, free places,  bursaries, concessionary rates

These writing events can be expensive, but there are hundreds of opportunities to get a reduction on the full price.  The ones I’ve selected are based solely on my experience, but you may find useful: 

• Sounds obvious, but check the criteria carefully before you apply. There is nothing more frustrating than discovering you’ve spent a few hours writing a letter for a place and you’re not eligible. Some are restricted to specific under-represented groups (e.g. working-class writers, those with a disability, BAHME writers) or aimed at young people, students, for example. Be mindful of this. Self-published writers take care - some opportunities do accept submissions whilst others don’t.
• Be transparent – especially for financially-related opportunities. Increasingly, organisations want evidence of low-income especially if you have limited income but do not qualify for state benefits.  
• Treat each application with the same care and consideration you would devote to a job application. Do exactly what they ask for e.g. if they stipulate 3,000 words don’t send 4,000. Swot up on the organisation and ensure you tailor the application to align with their ethos. Make it personal, show how the opportunity would benefit you in terms of self-development and/or how it will help your writing.  Show your enthusiasm and passion but be yourself. 
• If you’re serious about getting published by whichever means and entering competitions, consider buying The Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook (published annually by Bloomsbury (https://www.writersandartists.co.uk/advice). It should be available in the Reference section of your local library or you can buy a good second-hand copy on one of the many online book providers. 
• Visit your local library – serendipity was smiling on me when I discovered a published writer Lynn Griffin was setting up a local writing group and the first meeting was on my birthday!  Two years later, our little group is still going strong, and I find a tremendous support. It has brought me both the trust and friendship of fellow writers as well as the expertise and life experience of an extremely modest writer.  Check out Lynn Griffin’s blog at https://www.wifeinthewest.com/
• Where competitions offer a response date, do check up once this has passed. I emailed about a bursary place I hadn’t heard back from. Although I wasn’t the winner, I was next in line because I’d been pro-active and chased. I was lucky enough to be offered the place when the initial winner had to withdraw due to personal circumstances.  From the course, I was able to submit a chapter of my novel which I was delighted to learn was accepted for publication in Dialect Writers’ 2022 anthology.  Dialect support writers in rural areas in particular and further details can be found at https://www.dialect.org.uk/
• 
  
• Writing Competitions

If you are an under-represented writer, some organisations offer a fixed number of free or heavily subsidised places – so do check, because the entry fees can mount up – £10 is pretty standard. The most expensive I’ve entered was Bath Novel Prize at £29.99. 

I’ve spent a lot of time and energy applying for competitions and have yet to win anything.  However, that’s not to say you won’t!  Competitions can be found either on-line or via the Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook or Mslexia Indie Press Guide. 

It’s such a competitive business. It’s best to remember that even local competitions receive hundreds of entries.  A recent one I’d entered had over 2,000 entries!  It’s also highly subjective. My writing is more commercial fiction and perhaps doesn’t ‘stand out’ – yours might. 

Someone has to win!

The best of luck! 

 

My writing group buddies! 

Stories About Artists; Amazing Novels about Artists and Paintings: Steel, Chevalier, Smith and Hustvedt

What is it about visual artists that attracts those word artists...writers, I mean...to use them so often in their novels?

Stories about artists, both real and fully imagined, abound. 

We've all heard of Girl with the Pearl Earring, which features a real oil painting by Dutch Golden Age painter Johannes Vermeer, but Chevalier's The Lady and the Unicorn is also a great read; about an imagined 15thC artist, Nicolas des Innocents, who created the illustration for a richly embroidered wall tapestry, based on a real tapestry, rediscovered by French historian and archeaologist Merimee, in 1841, in Boussac castle in central France.

Then there's The Goldfinch, which, when I read the book, I imagined Donna Tartt had invented this rather wonderful little oil painting for her scintilating 2014 Pulitzer Prize novel, but is in fact a painting by Reneissance artist Carole Fabritius, which   I talk about here 

I've love all of Ali Smith's novels, but How to Be Both is perhaps as challenging read as you're likely to find. Smith plays with conventional fictional form, letting the reader in on  the poignancy of the story before the characters even start to realise. Smith examines a little of the life of  the 15th-century Italian painter Francesco del Cossa. Meanwhile, George is a teenager who has lost their mother, and tries to bring her back to life by recalling how they saw this  artist's  work.   Smith seems to investigate the symbolism of frescos: many layers, simultaneously.

curtesy of The Women's Prize

Most recently, Lucy Steed has just won the Waterstones Debut Prize for her first novel. She writes about one Edouard Tartuffe, “the Master of Light” an artist who lived in the early 20th Century,  a bit of a hermit and not a very nice man, really. He loves to paint rotting food, which gives his young housekeeper, Ettie, a bit of a headache. In 1920, Joseph Adelaide, an aspiring journalist, arrives at the remote farmhouse in the Provençal village of Saint-Auguste. He takes
comfort in art after being branded by the horror of the first world war, and wants to write an article about the famed oil painter.  Slowly, the young Englishman falls for Ettie, and tries to persuade her to escape her overbearing uncle.

If you're wondering why you haven't heard of Tartuffe, it's because Steed has created him, but he could be real, a cross between many artists of this incedury time. But her depictions of his art feel sensual and authentic and I could almost smell the paint...and the rotting peaches. 

Finally, a book I read some time ago, but have never forgotten. I must read more by this American author; Siri Hustvedt, Her 2003 novel, What I Loved sparkles with intelligence. It begins in the New York art world in the 70s, with art historian Leo Hertzberg and his friend, artist Bill Wechsler, whose artwork Leo has discovered in a SoHo gallery. Hustvedt is strong on the psychological effects of love, grief and hysteria, and her narrative voice pulls you into, and through, the story.

So now I'm looking for more exciting depictions of art and artists through a novelist's eye, although, I don't think, for now, I'm going to find more emotional maturity, than Steed, more passion than Hustvedt, more tense drama than Chevalier, or more brilliant plotting than Tartt.

The Mastery of Alan Holinghurst's Novels: Stellar Authors

Alan Hollinghurst at the 2011 Texas Book Festival,
copyright Larry D. Moore

 Alan Hollinghurst has written seven novels, has won numerous prizes, and is renown for being the author who elevated the genre of 'gay novel' to the heights of literary endeavour, being often compared to Henry James. Since winning the Booker, his novels has been heralded as a literary event worth the wait. His publisher, (Pan Macmillan) sums all this up as being about....the question of what it means to lead a life in thrall of the beautiful. 

But don't worry about all of that. Because above all things, a Hollinghurst is a cracking read.

His new novel, Our Evenings (2024) had me addicted for three all-consuming days, while I read steadily on through the almost 500 pages at breakfast, coffee, lunch, G&Ttime, dinner, throughout the evening and often, into the night. Nothing got done until the book was complete. And then, rather like the first 24 hours of a steaming affair, I lay back on my pillows and gasped, groaned, cried aloud, Oh, Alan, Alan!!! and found it difficult to sleep. 

The Guardian calls it 'his finest yet'; The novel tracks the currents of gay liberation and race relations, but with never a moment’s schematic overview...Of course, this is his best book. But then, I thought that of all of them. 

The Stranger's Child (2011), tells the story of a minor poet, Cecil Valance, who, before being killed in the First World War, writes a poem "Two Acres", which goes on to become famous.  As I read, I was searching for 'the stranger's child' within the novel, and not finding it, finally had to ask Google. It turns out to be a quote fromTennyson's "In Memoriam".

"And year by year the landscape grow / Familiar to the stranger's child." 

In 2012 interview, Hollinghurst explained how he thought 'the music of the words is absolutely wonderful, marvellously sad and consoling all at once. It fitted exactly with an idea I wanted to pursue in the book about the unknowability of the future'

This, I think may be the first of Hollinghurst's perennial themes, a gold thread in his work; the unknowability of the future. 

The Folding Star (1994) was my introduction to Hollinghurst. It's a hilariously funny book full of rampant gay sex and brilliantly executed scenes bursting with characters and dialogue. It is perhaps modelled slightly on Thomas Mann's Death in Venice, exploring the theme of transient beauty. So these two themes, 'the unknowable future', and 'ephemeral nature of beauty' run constantly through his books.

The Swimming Pool Library (1988), his first book, was the second one I read, having devoured  The Folding Star and wanting more. It won two prizes and is the perfect debut novel by someone not afraid to state upfront what their obsessions will be. It centres round a chance meeting where the main character saves the life of an older gay man in a public toilet, creating  a story revealed within the story, dealing  with ageing, race and cruelty, but also about keeping secrets…hiding the truth about yourself. Holinghurst starts his career as an author as he means to go on; strongly described gay sexual encounters, and lots and lots of characters who are often together in one scene.

The Line of Beauty (2004), deservedly won the Booker Prize. The 80's obsession with cocaine, and  the emerging AIDS crisis form backdrops, while he's again exploring class and  privilege and homosexuality. I had no trouble with this title because I was already getting the idea that beauty is part of Hollinghurst's passions. The line of beauty is a double "S" curve, called an ogee, used in textiles, architecture, wrought iron work and even ship-building. You could say the ogee 'swings both ways', reinforcing the theme of transient beauty and very casual sex, while the story moves through Thatcher's London, which would have been unknowable as it was happening, in the same way as tomorrow and next year is unknowable to us know. 

Of all his writing accomplishments and prowess, I think his expertise in crowd control is the one I really admire. It's so hard, as a writer, to handle scenes in which a lot of characters are moving, and chatting, at the same time. Parties are his go-to settings, and he's simply brilliant at guiding conversations that, as they go on in real time, have subtle meanings exuding from them: 

 Have a look at that Nick,’ Pete called out, as if amiably trying to keep him occupied. ‘You know what it is.’

‘That’s a nice little piece,’ said Leo

‘It’s a very nice little piece,’ said Pete. ‘Louis Quinze.’

Nick ran his eye over the slightly cockled boulle inlay. ‘Well, it’s an encoignure,’ he said, and with a chance at charm: ‘n’est ce pas?

‘It’s what we call a corner cupboard,’ Pete said. ‘Where did you get this one, babe?’

‘Ooh...I just found him on the street,’ said Leo, gazing quite sweetly at Nick and then giving him a wink. ‘He looked a bit lost.’

‘Hardly a mark on him,’ said Pete.

‘Not yet,’ said Leo.

‘So where’s your father’s shop, Nick?’ said Pete.

‘Oh, it’s in Barwick – in Northamptonshire.’

‘Don’t they pronounce that Barrick?’

‘Only frightfully grand people.’

Pete lit a cigarette, drew on it deeply, then coughed and looked almost sick. ‘Ah, that’s better,’ he said. ‘Yes, Bar-wick. I know Barwick. It’s what you’d call a funny place, isn’t it.’ (Pg 107)

Although this has been plucked from its context, the reader can see that speech and meanings are at complete odds. As the three characters talk about antique pieces, we are given glimpses of what they can see as well as the subtext, offered in mostly body language and speech patterns. Hollinghurst doesn’t allow the dialogue to stray from the context of the scene, but it’s easy to picture what is going on during the chat. In other words, he supports his dialogue. Lengthy pieces of dialogue in prose, unsupported by narrative description and action, can lose emotional hold on the reader. 

While I was reading Our Evenings, I kept changing my mind about what sort of book this was. At first I was sure this story was a bildungsroman––a coming of age novel, that charts the growth and change of the protagonist from childhood to adulthood. Soon, I realised that this would be the story of an entire life. Then, towards the end, I wondered if it might be a metafiction––when he grows towards old age, David decides to write his memoir. His husband asks what he'll call it and he takes that quote...'Our Evenings'. By the shocking end of the novel, you realise you might be reading just that...the memoir of this life, written by the man who lived it to his best. 

But––finally––I realised that what this novel does so brilliantly is map Britain’s changing attitudes to class, race, politics and sex from 1960 to 2010.

A triumph indeed!

Gerald Manley Hopkins

You might wonder at this stage, how Our Evenings came to have its title. David Win has to learn and recite at school the sonnet by Gerard Manly Hopkins; ‘Spelt from Sybil’s Leaves'.

    Óur évening is over us; óur night ' whélms, whélms, ánd will end us.

   The poem reflects what the book achieves; it leaps, it soars, from impermanence to timelessness. 

    Take a look at Alan Hollinghurst's canon, pick a book at random and enjoy... then post me a note at Kitchentable and let everyone know what you think of this masterful author.