Exposition and a second look

I've been re-typing the first book, Nightchild, because the original text files are so ancient that they're totally incompatible with all of the computer hardware and software that I have now. It's giving me a chance to correct a couple of things that I wish I'd worded differently the first time, and to correct a little error of detail that ends up being important in Catherine's Wheel (and in Sacrifice, actually).

I'm finding as I go back over the old words that I don't really hate them. I'm also finding a curious sense of sympathy for some of the side characters who came and went in that book, primarily Nikolas, Ara's husband. He got a bad deal, and he started out being someone who really had the best of intentions and the purest motives. He just wanted to marry the woman he loved, and he wanted to have a normal life. It makes me a little sad to look at it from that point of view while I'm going through the book. (Of course, this only applies to Nikolas before he got cozy with Antonio, but anyway...I digress...)

Should I have said, "Spoiler alert"? I think if anyone is reading this blog, they've already read the book.

I've also been thinking about exposition. One of the few cardinal "rules" of writing that I've always tried to keep in mind is "show it, don't tell it". It's better to unfold the plot through action rather than through dialogue or narrative. That being said, sometimes exposition is absolutely essential to driving the story onward. At the point I've reached in Catherine's Wheel, as I think I mentioned earlier, Tristan is playing the part of the Exposition Fairy, and it's vital. Tobyn needs to know what he's getting into, and sometimes a person really does need to be schooled by someone older and more informed. I'm glad that the talking didn't run very long, though, and that the learning that Tobyn is doing is going into a more active mode.

Exposition is a funny thing. It's necessary to a point, but it's so important not to get carried away with it. It can kill a work in progress, especially if that work is meant to be shorter in length. A novel can certainly bear more exposition than a short story. I think we've all seen examples, whether in print or on television or in films, where the exposition is heavy-handed and drags down the pace. It's a fine line. I hope I'm walking it well.