Embed Information in Conflict
Characters reveal backstory when they’re fighting about something else. The exposition becomes ammunition, not explanation.
- Why it worksConflict forces selective information. In The Fault in Our Stars, John Green reveals Hazel’s medical history through her argument with her mother about attending support group. The exposition emerges through resistance, not recitation. Hazel wants to skip the meeting. Her mother pushes back. The medical details surface because they’re weapons in that specific conflict.
- How to do itStart with what characters want in the scene, then let information emerge from that desire. In Six of Crows, Leigh Bardugo reveals Kaz’s backstory through confrontations with other characters. When he’s challenged about his methods, his history with Pekka Rollins surfaces through venom and implication. Readers learn through context, not through Kaz standing around explaining his trauma.
Do
Let characters reveal information while pursuing their actual goals.
Avoid
Having characters explain backstory just because readers need it.
From My Work
In The Death of Me, Katie learns about the afterlife while trying to understand what happened to her:
“We searched your mind to find something you’d recognize. This body seemed like a fitting choice,” she answered.
“Say what?”
“We cannot appear to you in our natural state. We are alter-dimensional creatures. Your brain could not comprehend the images. You would go mad. Therefore, we must choose an alternate…direction.”
Mandy explains the rules because Katie’s demanding answers, not because the reader needs a lore dump. The conflict drives the exposition.
Use Questions Characters Would Actually Ask
Real people ask questions when they don’t understand something. Characters should do the same. The key is making sure the question serves the character’s immediate need, not just the reader’s curiosity.
- Why it worksQuestions create natural information flow. In The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins uses Katniss’s genuine confusion about Capitol customs to reveal worldbuilding. Katniss doesn’t know how the Games work because she’s never competed before. Her questions to Effie and Haymitch feel motivated by survival, not exposition.
- How to do itGive characters legitimate reasons not to know something, then let them ask. In A Deadly Education, Naomi Novik uses El’s commentary on Scholomance’s absurd magical system to explain how the school works. El’s not explaining for the reader’s benefit—she’s venting about how terrible everything is. The exposition rides on her voice and attitude.
Do
Ask questions that reveal character perspective alongside information.
Avoid
Having one character ask questions they should already know the answer to.
Let Characters Withhold Information
People don’t volunteer everything. They dodge, deflect, and lie by omission. This creates tension while revealing information gradually.
- Why it worksResistance makes readers pay attention. In We Were Liars, E. Lockhart uses Cadence’s fractured memory and the family’s refusal to discuss what happened to create mystery. Information emerges in fragments because characters are actively hiding it. The withholding becomes the story.
- How to do itShow characters refusing to answer directly, then reveal why they’re evasive. In The Poppy War, R.F. Kuang uses Jiang’s cryptic responses to Rin’s questions about shamanism to build intrigue. He’s not being mysterious for the reader’s sake—he’s testing whether Rin’s ready for dangerous knowledge.
Do
Let characters have reasons to withhold or distort information.
Avoid
Making every character an enthusiastic expositor.
Reveal Through Action
Characters demonstrate information through what they do, not through what they say about what they do.
- Why it worksAction is proof. In Red Rising, Pierce Brown shows the class system through the physical demands placed on Reds versus the luxury afforded to Golds. Darrow doesn’t explain the hierarchy—readers see it through labor, architecture, and violence. The world reveals itself through experience.
- How to do itShow capability and knowledge through behavior. In The Lies of Locke Lamora, Scott Lynch reveals Locke’s skills as a con artist by showing him execute cons. Readers learn what he can do by watching him work, not by hearing him describe his resume.
Do
Use action to prove what dialogue claims.
Avoid
Having characters narrate their own competence.
From My Work
In Salt & Bone, Jack’s paranoia and survival training surface through behavior:
I scanned the apartments without thinking. Windows. Stairwells. Alley gaps between the buildings. Shadow lines. Sightlines. Escape routes. Reflex.
Ray would’ve approved.
That was the worst part.
Readers learn about Ray’s influence through Jack’s automatic threat assessment, not through a flashback where someone explains it.
Use Incomplete Information
Real conversations are messy. People interrupt, assume shared knowledge, and reference things without full context. Readers can handle ambiguity.
- Why it worksPartial information creates texture. In The Fifth Season, N.K. Jemisin drops readers into a world where characters use terminology without explaining it. “Orogene,” “the Stillness,” “Father Earth”—these terms gain meaning through repeated use in context. Readers assemble understanding through pattern recognition, not through a glossary disguised as dialogue.
- How to do itLet characters use shorthand and insider language without immediate translation. In Code Name Verity, Elizabeth Wein uses incomplete radio transmissions and coded messages to create atmosphere. The characters know what they’re talking about. Readers catch up through context.
Do
Trust readers to infer meaning from context.
Avoid
Stopping the story to define every term.
Ground Exposition in Sensory Detail
Information lands better when it’s tied to physical experience. Abstract explanations float away. Concrete details stick.
- Why it worksSensory grounding creates immersion. In The Name of the Wind, Patrick Rothfuss uses Kvothe’s experience learning sympathy to explain the magic system. Readers don’t get a lecture on how sympathy works—they feel the mental strain, see the physical effects, and watch Kvothe struggle with the mechanics.
- How to do itAttach information to what characters see, smell, hear, taste, or touch. In Children of Blood and Bone, Tomi Adeyemi reveals the cost of magic through Zélie’s physical exhaustion and the burn of her powers. The magic system emerges through sensation.
Do
Use physical experience to anchor abstract concepts.
Avoid
Explaining systems without grounding them in sensory reality.
Make Exposition a Negotiation
Characters reveal information when they want something from each other. Exposition becomes transactional.
- Why it worksNegotiation creates stakes. In The Goblin Emperor, Katherine Addison reveals court politics through Maia navigating conversations where every piece of information has value. Characters don’t volunteer data—they trade it for favor, leverage, or safety.
- How to do itShow characters offering information in exchange for something they need. In Gideon the Ninth, Tamsyn Muir uses the Houses’ reluctance to share knowledge about necromancy as a source of tension. Information is currency. Characters pay for it.
Do
Make information valuable within the scene’s power dynamics.
Avoid
Treating exposition as a free gift from character to reader.
From My Work
In The Death of Me, Mandy negotiates Katie’s cooperation by controlling information:
“Like you? They get an extra bonus life. They go back for a specific allotment of time to gain that knowledge—whatever it may be.”
“So…I get to live again?” My head was filling with questions.
“Yes, but only for thirty days,” she said.
“What if I don’t gain the knowledge?”
Mandy’s eyes looked everywhere but mine. “Then you stay here…forever. Believe us…you don’t want that. It’s lonely here for your kind.”
Mandy reveals rules strategically, using Katie’s fear to motivate compliance. The information serves Mandy’s goal—getting Katie to cooperate—not just the reader’s need to understand the premise.
Avoid Rehearsing Known Facts
Characters don’t recap their own lives to each other. If they both know it, they don’t say it.
- Why it worksEliminating redundancy sharpens dialogue. In The Martian, Andy Weir uses Mark Watney’s video logs to explain technical problems without another character present. Mark’s talking to himself and to future rescuers who don’t know his situation. The format justifies the exposition.
- How to do itFind narrative structures that allow characters to legitimately explain things. In Project Hail Mary (also Andy Weir), the protagonist’s memory loss creates natural opportunities for re-discovery. He genuinely doesn’t remember, so his process of figuring things out doubles as exposition.
Do
Create situations where explanation serves an in-world purpose.
Avoid
Having characters remind each other of facts they both witnessed.
Final Thoughts
Exposition works when characters pursue their own goals, ask questions they genuinely need answered, withhold information strategically, demonstrate knowledge through action, use incomplete shorthand, ground abstract concepts in sensory detail, negotiate for information, and avoid rehearsing known facts to each other.
Readers stop noticing the mechanics. They stop seeing the author feeding them information. Instead, they watch characters navigate conflict, and the worldbuilding emerges as a natural consequence of people trying to survive, connect, or win.
That’s when exposition becomes invisible—and that’s when it works best.
Extras
- Read about Salt & Bone
- Read about The Death of Me
- Sign up for the newsletter to get weekly tips
- The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
- Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
- The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
- A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik
- We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
- The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang
- Red Rising by Pierce Brown
- The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch
- The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin
- Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
- The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
- Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
- The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison
- Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
- The Martian by Andy Weir
- Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir