How about some concrete screenwriting tips this week? The kind of thing that for some strange reason, they wouldn’t ever teach in my USC writing classes.

Let’s talk about expository dialogue—done poorly, it can make your film a chore to watch. So here’s how to do it seamlessly.

By the way, I was inspired to write this issue because I tried to watch the movie Renfield, and oh my god was the writing rough. I couldn’t even get through the first act because of all the expository dialogue.

What is Expository Dialogue?

Expository dialogue is anytime characters give the audience key information through dialogue—like backstory, plot details, or world-building.

It’s incredibly easy for expository dialogue to feel forced or unnatural because so often we (the writers) have to shoe-horn it in for the film to make sense.

Unfortunately, lazy exposition is boring and cringey, and grinds your film’s energy to a halt.

So, let’s look at some ways to keep that from happening.

Show Don’t Tell

This one never gets old. If there’s any way to visually show a piece of information instead of having a character talk about it, do that.

Every. Single. Time.

Example: Instead of having a character say, “I used to be in the military,” show their dog-tags, or Semper Fi bumper sticker, or even them reacting sharply to a sudden noise.

Let the audience piece it together themselves – it makes for more engaging storytelling.

Make It Besides the Point

Bury your exposition in the middle of conflict or action or another story arc.

Your characters shouldn’t sit around and explain everything in a nice, neat way. They should be busy—arguing, working, fighting, late for the bus, panicking—sneak the exposition in as part of that chaos.

Example: Two lawyers up late at night reading through documents, despite their exhaustion.

Lawyer 1: This is like finding a needle in a haystack.

Lawyer 2: Check the neighbor’s testimony, what’s her name?

Lawyer 1: How about some Chinese?

Lawyer 2: Are you joking? We have 3 hours left to save a man from the chair, and you’re ordering take-out?

Lawyer 1: I should starve because this asshole doesn’t know better than to party with gang-bangers? C’mon, you want orange chicken or what?

By hiding exposition in conflict that seems besides the point, you keep the audience engaged and make it feel like a natural part of the scene.

Earn It

Exposition should never come easy. In real life, people don’t just spill their guts. Neither should your characters.

The information should get pulled out of them, through questions, pressure, or emotional stakes.

Example: If your character has a tragic past, don’t have them deliver a monologue about it over coffee on a first date. Instead, build up to it. Maybe they refuse to talk about it until someone pushes them too far, and it finally bursts out in anger or tears.

The more you make the information cost the character, the more powerful it feels to the audience.

Let Characters Be Wrong

This can be an easy way to deliver exposition. Have someone be wrong about something, and let them get corrected in a surprising way – thereby teaching the audience the information they need to know while keeping them entertained.

Example: At a school for wizards, a freshman tries to practice a shrinking spell in the mirror. Suddenly, he shrinks to the size of a small boy. A wizard teacher enters the room, notes the boy and the mirror opposite him: “Spells affect whoever you’re making eye contact with. Try not to read ahead of the class next time…”

Stop and Re-assess

If you’re writing a short film and find yourself needing to dump a ton of exposition about your characters’ backstory, stop.

Ask yourself—why not just set the film in that backstory?

Short films are all about immediacy. If you’re trying to explain something from the past, it might be more powerful to show it directly.

In other words, if the key moment that defines your character’s arc happened before the events of your film, maybe that is the story you should be telling.

Your Checklist

Go through your latest script and look for any moments where your characters are explaining things. Now ask yourself:

1. Can I show this instead of having them say it?
2. Can I bury this exposition in action or conflict?
3. Am I making the characters earn the information they’re giving out?
4. What if they were wrong about what they’re saying? How does that change the story?
5. Does this story need all this backstory, or should the film take place in that moment from the past?

And that’s how you get away with expository dialogue.

My favorite things this week:

💬 Quote

“I’ve noticed that the truth works… If you’re being yourself and you’re just using your own emotions, they can feel it. If you’re doing fake, they can feel it. It took me a while in comedy to realize that your truth is more powerful than your mask.” 

— Jordan Peele

Let’s make some movies.

-Kent