By Mar Preston, @YesMarPreston
My Dave Mason police procedural series is about the Santa Monica Police Department and the city itself, a tourist destination with a colorful background, present, and future.
I love Santa Monica, but will others care that much? What is critical information for me, the story teller, and a historical aside to someone else? This checklist is for me as well as you:
* What’s your main story? Think of it a as smooth, linear narrative and then think of a python with a big expository lump coming through.
* Can you fix it so something happens while the data dump is coming through?
* Is this a section in which nothing happens but a lot of expository information is set in to bring the reader up to date?
* How can you rewrite this until you can get across that information—and make the story progress at the same time?
* Can your character have a good reason to explain all this to someone else?
* Can your character read this info in a report, see it on TV, do an internet search?
* Can you do this in dialogue while something exciting is taking place?
* How can you show this rather than telling it?
* How can you reveal the critical information a little at a time by creating tantalizing hints?
* Ask yourself. Could I leave this out? Is this important? Are you sure?
* If it’s important, ask yourself whether it needs to be told now? Can it wait?
* Is this much description of the setting necessary? Why?
* Is this a personal rant? Some passionate opinion you just have to get in somehow?
* Is your reader an idiot? If not, how hard do you want a reader to have to work?
Mar Preston is the author of No Dice and Rip-Off, both set in Santa Monica and featuring Detective Dave Mason of the SMPD and his community activist girlfriend.
Both are available as paperbacks at Amazon.
Ebook versions are available at Amazon and Smashwords.
See her website at marpreston.com
Hmm, this is a good checklist for any background info, not just mystery/crime writing. I like it. I’ve saved this link to ask in my own writing. thanks for sharing it Mar.
Hello Elizabeth :)
…….dhole
ELizabeth – Thanks for hosting Mar.
Mar – Those are terrific ideas and a good set of questions to ask oneself before including a lot of information. Sometimes what’s interesting to the author may not be to the reader.
I’m keeping this and will refer to it.
Thanks
Great basic list. I also try to leave it out in the first draft. If the exposition is needed I’ll find it in the revision process. Then I can more easily figure out how to insert it in the action.
That is a really good checklist.
What a great checklist. Thanks for sharing here.
Great points. I put this post on my blog because I liked it so much.
clarissadraper@blogspot.com
Awesome tips!
I try not to rant in my books though. Or on my blog.
Helpful checklist, Mar! I’ve got a book right now that I’m trying to gauge background on.
Thanks to today’s commenters, too. :)
Very useful checklist.
Thinking back to my childhood, I got tired of rereading the same backstory about Fenton Hardy and Bayport in every book >:)
Cold As Heaven
Snort laughed on this one…Is your reader an idiot? If not, how hard do you want a reader to have to work?
Thanks so much for the great checklist!
Elizabeth–I tweeted your post, but didn’t realize it was with my son’s Twitter account!
His friends will think he’s become a mystery writer :)
Thanks for your positive comments, all of you. This came from my own painful experience.
What I felt was critical for the reader to know was regarded by a reviewer as clutter. Oh, it hurt.
By the way, my new book is Rip-Off.
Good wishes,
Mar Preston