I don't... (just need more characters)
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May '21last reply
May '21- 25
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What exactly do you mean by that? I always want to leave some mystery in my stories, if that's what you're getting at. While "exposition dumps" get way too much flak and have appeared in lots of classic, really-good stories since time immemorial, I never want to use too many of them and find that explaining through action is often better, or at least more fun, than straightforward explanation.
Or by "do you usually explain everything," do you mean when the author comes in as a narrator? That sounds like...basically how I write, in my default mode, actually...
I definitely don't. I try to avoid throwing too many bizarre concepts at the reader all at once. With episodic world-building, my goal is generally to balance dropping breadcrumbs fleshing out the world while hinting at blank spots on the map that readers don't have information about yet. You can even use that to steer future story arcs or sequels based on what places readers express interest in.
I'm also not very fond of exposition dumps.
I tend to explain the story though the characters, in the sense that all characters each know their own part of the lore, and they don't suddenly dump it all, but only according to the context. So the reader can discover everything little by little, and understand how each character is connected to the story. Plus, it gives the characters more importance.
I have short explanations under every page. Just because my comic is 7 years old and almost 700 pages long: it's easy for readers to lose track of things. So I do my best to spare them the trouble of rereading everything every time they forget something.
I too rather intersperse information about my universe through action and dialog. It's a personal choice and I do feel it helps with my pacing. You learn about the two worlds through the character journeys. If I spent several pages explaining the mechanics of how everything works, I feel like I'd lose my readers' interest. (Because trust me, if I didn't control myself it'd be wild. 
)
Hmm, yeah, but not straight-up exposition. Rather, I rely on unreliable narrator and repetition to get the meaning across. This is mostly done when I'm doing flashbacks or opening up a scene, so it kinda reads like a play narrator setting the scene.
When doing so, I focus on character interaction, character emotions, and kinda offer a way to peer into the character's mind. I think this is a pretty good example of this:
It's part of my Webtoon series With Butterflies in Her Hair. Here, I really love using unreliable narrator when going through flashbacks. The tone becomes darker, the words become twisted, and you don't hear an outsider explaining things: you hear Troy's voice.
I also like to use repetition before and after a scene -- words gain meaning and can have double meaning when more information is given. So I like to repeat one sentence at the beginning, and then at the end -- showing that change in feelings has changed the words.
I find if more exposition could be done this way, things would get a bit more interesting. Sometimes, you can explain things: but explaining them in a way that shows bias, or has some type of double meaning, makes the information more interesting, and it makes the reader kinda pay attention to see who's lying and who's telling the truth.
If I need to go into a bunch of exposition, I'll do it through dialogue, and try to keep that dialogue, and the art, engaging. I'm coming up on a LOT of exposition soon, but I'm hoping/expecting it to land well for a few reasons,
- It answers a mystery the readers will be very curious about.
- It's delivered in two different batches, so it's not all at once. Batch one answers one mystery, and presents another even more tantalising one. Batch two answers that second mystery.
- One batch is an interrogation, so it's understandable that the characters are delivering information clearly.
- Batch two is half interrogation, half negotiation, and we see the characters behaving more warmly toward each other for the first time.
- I'm lacing a lot of characterisation and emotion all through this, so it'll be emotionally gripping to the reader, rather than just boring.
- I'm going to make it look pretty.
I have an extremely detailed magic system and lore which I only want to skim across the top of in Blue Star Rebellion, but I need to go just deep enough for my readers to understand what's going on, what's at stake, and why. It's one hell of a balancing act!
I avoid exposition as much as I can these days. I had two exposition dumps on The Ghoul (you guys were spared the first one but had to suffer the second one) due to length constraints, and I've learned much from it.
For the more episodic Classic Fantasy, it is my hope and objective to have any and all information be presented organically as characters experience the world around them (this will work best since one of the main characters, Angelo, is a newbie to the adventurer's life) and interact with one another. Of course there is no easy way out of expositions, so this is all what I intend to do, and not necessarily what is possible to do.
You find out things as my protagonist does, and even then he's lied to and tricked a lot. 
Sometimes I explain things in the episode description or answer a comment question (if it's not too spoilery).
That wouldn't be really an explanation, more of a "Previously" which can be really helpful indeed! Readers shouldn't need to re-read to remember what you published years ago.
I love being vague. Let the reader piece things together. Your readers are smart, so treat them as such.
Ambiguous storytelling is my favorite kind so I try to do the same.
I agree 100%! Even as a reader, I prefer having the time to have theories and piece things together before it's confirmed in any way in the story.
not really, no time for that I leave something to think for my readers and later explaining in other chapters 
suprise xD
Honestly I rather not do that, because I like to wait and unveil new exciting things here and there so the reader gets to experience the unpredictable storytelling they aren't expecting from the creator! Adding new elements as I go. I think that is what makes a story unique and fun to read all at the same time.
For me, everything gets explained eventually. There are probably a lot of questions reader have about characters/concepts in my series. Anything that's important and relevant will get answered at some point down the road. I like letting readers piece little things together instead of revealing everything all at once. It can help build suspense and develop a character's personality if done right.
I feel like my current spot in my webcomic Future Agents is probably the most info-dumpy it has been because they're explaining the mission statement of the organization through dialogue. But I try to make it relevant to the story... in this case, the Chief Technology Officer isn't honoring the mission statement of the Future Agents by putting his own concerns first, and the others have to remind him why the mission statement should be taken seriously. Sprinkle in some interesting art and I think it makes the reading experience more enticing. It also reveals the motives and ambitions of certain characters while also establishing relationships between them (some characters are getting very annoyed of each other! haha)
Yes and no.
Yes, because my current story is full of vague or less vague foreshadowing, so there is a lot of yet unexplained, but most will be explained by the end of the story.
No, because I often build complex political, administrative, economical, geographical etc contexts to my stories, but generally we see of them only what is pertinent to the story, and most aspects remain unexplained (at least in the story itself. I'm planning extras on these aspects for my current comic).
