9.9 KiB
[D] Rationally Writing Ep. 19 - Exposition
-
Author: u/DaystarEld Pokémon Professor*
-
Score: 13
-
Created: 2016-12-18T20:34:56
Post:
Comments:
u/Wiron [+7] (2 hours later)
One good way to deal with infodump is to rework it as looking for answer. For example instead of simply describing countries in a region, reframe it as "which countries are potential allies". Instead of "this is history of this city", "why this city is so rich". It transforms dry informations into clues to mystery. It uses the same principles that makes clickbait so effective.
I think there is such thing as good exposition in itself. If you look how Pratchett, Douglas or Susanne Clarke are doing it they are often present it as a mini story. It has characters, structure, progression, and climax. It takes more words but is more engaging this way.
u/alexanderwales [+2] Time flies like an arrow (4 hours later)
I've started trying to incorporate this "mini-stories" approach into my own work, because it's definitely my favorite way to learn about a world, and I really enjoy flash fiction. I think it takes a particular type of narrative and a particular type of tone though; it's very much a stylistic thing. And footnotes are my favorite way of delivering side-stories, but they're troublesome if you're targeting multiple platforms, since HTML/PDF/EPUB/MOBI all handle them differently (and in some cases, poorly).
u/None [+2] (6 hours later)
All of these episodes look really great, but I'm not too used to the podcast format, which has been holding me back from checking them out.
Has anyone followed all of these? What are your thoughts? (A positive review will probably tip me over to spend the time to check them out).
u/Kuiper [+2] (a day later)
I'm not too used to the podcast format, which has been holding me back from checking them out.
Assuming that you're not familiar with podcasts in general, my personal recommendation would be to listen to them on the go. If you've got a smartphone, you can just use a podcast app (iTunes for iOS, Pocketcasts on Android, or just use the soundcloud app) and listen at your leisure during downtime. If you don't have a smartphone, hopefully you at least have an MP3 player, and you can use iTunes to download the podcast and then manually transfer it to your listening device like you would any other audio file (or just sync if you have an iPod).
I tend to listen to podcasts when I'm driving, going for a walk, or playing a game that doesn't require a lot of mental attention. I usually find time to listen to 10+ hours worth of podcasts week just letting it fill the empty moments. It's actually probably the easiest type of media for me to consume, as I think it's the only type of media that doesn't really require me to carve time out of my schedule for it; it's easy for me to listen to shows in chunks of 15-20 minutes throughout the day.
If I misunderstood your remark and your issue is not with podcasts as a medium, but rather the format of RW (as compared to other podcasts), it's a conversation-format podcast, it's not overly-produced and they conference remotely, but the audio fidelity is decent enough and it flows well without any big pauses or other hiccups. Also, unlike a lot of other podcasts that use the "two guys talking about a subject" format, Daystar and AW do a good job of sticking to the topic without any pointless digressions; it feels like they're trying to cover a topic, rather than just have a conversation (and I mean that in a good way). To compare it to a similar podcast, I am a big fan of Writing Excuses, which is also a writing podcast with a focus on efficiency of communicating valuable writing advice, but sometimes the WE podcast is so obsessed with finishing things in a "timely" manner that it doesn't feel like they cover topics with the depth they deserve. I feel like Rationally Writing's episodes are usually the perfect length to cover a topic in a satisfying way without getting too bogged down in minutia, a good balance between the hyper-focused Writing Excuses and more rambling shows (like Dead Robot Society), just to name an example.
To give a more succinct review, there are two kinds of podcasts in my feed: ones that I listen to immediately whenever a new episode pops up, and ones that I listen to whenever just want to fill time. Rationally Writing is definitely one of the former.
u/None [+1] (a day later)
Wow, thanks for the extensive review! Yes, I'm new to podcasts in general. I always feel guilty if I'm multitasking with them in the background, as if I haven't given it my "full attention".
u/Kuiper [+2] (2 days later)
I always feel guilty if I'm multitasking with them in the background, as if I haven't given it my "full attention".
There are some podcasts that I do try to consume in a controlled environment. Produced radio shows like Love+Radio, The Truth, or Homecoming usually fall into this category, partly because I want to be able to appreciate the sound design, and partly because they tend to be pretty intense and emotionally engaging; shows like The Truth aim to provide an experience that is like "movies for your ears," and hearing a story (sometimes a true story with real people who aren't actors) with serious and somber subject matter isn't really the kind of thing that I want to have as just "background noise" when I'm engaged in some kind of frivolous activity. I usually these kinds of shows for a for times when I have a long, lonely highway drive to listen to them without interruption.
Rationally Writing isn't anything like that. There's no specialized sound design (it's just two guys talking) and the subject matter, while intellectually stimulating, usually doesn't require any emotional engagement on my part, so it's the kind of thing that I can check in and out of, in the same way that I would an interesting blog post or nonfiction book. I sometimes listen to these types of podcasts when I'm in a distracted environment; I listened to five whole seasons of Writing Excuses back when I was working as an intern in a lab doing a lot of data entry.
It's also worth noting that the "informative" podcasts (like Rationally Writing and Writing Excuses) tend to be the ones I go back to for multiple listens over a long period. I started listening to Writing Excuses some time back in 2011-2012 around the time that they were wrapping up season 5, and since then I have gone back and listened to season 5 in its entirety at least three times, and some episodes I've listened to more than that. I tend to treat shows like this more like instruction manuals or textbooks, and I treat it in the same way that I would treat a textbook. It wouldn't make sense for me to check out a textbook from the library, read it cover to cover, and then say, "Okay, done with that, now I never have to open that textbook again." Sometimes I'll go back and listen to my favorite episodes just to remind me about something that I found particularly interesting or motivating; sometimes I'll be mentally "stuck" on a particular topic and go back to a particular podcast episode to help me with that.
The genre of "instructional podcast" is also somewhat textbook-like in that I sometimes just need it to get me started down the right path, and I may not listen to an entire episode in its entirety. For example, sometimes I just won't be in the "mood" to write, and feel like I just need to listen to two authors talk about how they outline effective plots, and then halfway through the episode my mind will begin wandering as I start thinking about the story I'm working on, and by the end of the episode I can't wait to get back to my computer and start typing again. That's not something I ever feel "guilty" about, in fact, it's a good thing! One of the main goals of WE (and I believe RW aims to do this too) is to provide actionable advice, so taking action after you've heard the advice is an important part of the experience. My personal advice would be to listen to the episodes that deal with topics that you specifically find interesting, check in when you need motivation or inspiration (and feel free to check out once you've gotten it), and feel free to go back and re-listen to episodes if you feel that there's still something there for you to engage with.
u/None [+1] (2 days later)
Great, thank you so much for the additional information!
The last part about it being a way to "get into the right mood' is especially true, I think, and I may want to try it just for that.
u/DaystarEld [+1] Pokémon Professor (34 seconds later)
Welcome back everyone! Today we discuss exposition: the good, the bad, and the common pitfalls. Enjoy, and all feedback welcome!
u/Sailor_Vulcan [+1] Champion of Justice and Reason (3 hours later)
in regards to the chinese-ish fantasy world story, i would like to read that. you should have done what the author of "Unsong" did and go back and forth between two different time periods. In "Unsong" there are two main story arcs: the past during the time of the Comet King's war on hell mostly focused on Uriel, Sohu and the Comet King. And the present after the comet king disappeared, which mostly focuses on the main protagonists Aaron and Ana. you could have done something similar, make the past in the fantasy world more relevant to the plot and tie the past and present story arcs together.
u/alexanderwales [+2] Time flies like an arrow (4 hours later)
That project might still be salvageable. I haven't put it into the "Never" folder where half-finished works go to die. (And there was a bit of connection to the past, which would make the proposed restructure a little less painless.)