Notes from Clarion West 2002: Exposition

[wshaffer]

Today's clear-out of boxes in the garage yielded my notes from the Clarion West writers' workshop back in 2002. Here's some stuff I wrote down from our first class session with Paul Park about exposition:

Don't tell the reader information before they care.

It is often counterproductive to try to transfer exactly the author's impression into the reader's head. You need to let the reader do some of the work. The reader should have a clear impression, but not necessarily a specific one.

Choose detail that seems to suggest an entire narrative.

I also unearthed a large 8.5x11 photo of me wearing a Jar Jar Binks mask. Gotta get that scanned.