Mr. Exposition

[mcity]

Remember when I ranted about someone going "Thank you, Mr. Exposition" in a fanfic? Apparently, it's a thing. (TVTropes) Specifically, a reference to a Slappy Squirrel bit from Animaniacs. Thing is, on Animaniacs, everyone is aware they're in a cartoon. You can't just break the fourth wall or lampshade things whenever you want, and constantly doing so lets the audience know that you are unwilling or unable to improve the flaws (TVTropes). There's nothing wrong with exposition, only when it's poorly done. It is necessary for someone to tell someone else something in just about every story. If you don't think you can write it in a compelling manner, consider the following;

• Who is explaining?
• How are they doing it? How do they phrase and summarize things?
• Who are they explaining it to?
• What reactions does their audience have, verbal and otherwise?
• Can this information be summarized, in whole or in part, by the narration, or is there vital, specific information in there?

I had some of this in mind when I wrote inPrototype 1-03., and managed to summarize the situation pretty efficiently in just one paragraph (after the break), while still leaving room for Zeke to clarify any specific points I didn't cover. Wasn't on purpose, but it worked anyway. It's still very weird to occasionally learn that I'm slightly more clever than I normally think I am.