The science fiction and fantasy genre, by its definition, is rife with things and concepts not found in the real life, but is supposed to be somewhat commonly found in the universe of the story. Some examples would be spice melange in Dune, flying broomsticks in Harry Potter, The Law of Surprise in The Witcher, graviton cyclers in Noumenon, "stepping" in The Long Earth, among many others. One of the basic challenges writers of the genre must face is how to introduce those things to the boring real-world readers. I noticed that in most of the stories I read, I just understood the terms naturally and seamlessly while reading. Some of those writers are just so good at writing stories, I guess! I might have to revisit some of those books to really notice the point at which those new concepts are surreptitiously introduced to me. One thing I always seem to overthink about is how to slip in the introduction of the concept into my story, especially to avoid over-exposition, and especially while writing in certain kinds point of view. I'm thinking of the multiple ways this can be done: 1. Have a character explain the concept to another. This would require the latter character be oblivious to the concept, though, and the "newcomer to the scene" trope could only work so many times. "So what is this Klutzon's Barrier people keep on talking about?" asked Harry. "You didn't know?" said Burton, surprised. "Klutzon's Barrier is the hypothetical limit of number of Trials the new recruits get before they start losing knowledge more than they learn something new." 2. Have the omniscient narrator explain it directly to the reader. This is one of the techniques I try to avoid the most, as it felt really jarring a lot of the times to break the flow of the stories just to explain something. Also, over-exposition danger. Harry noted the word "Klutzon's Barrier" gets thrown about often in the discussion. It was the term used to describe the hypothetical limit of number of Trials the new recruits get before they start losing knowledge more than they learn something new. But Harry didn't know this, of course. 3. Have your POV character read or learn about it somewhere. Again, smells like over-exposition if done too often. Sifting through the encyclopedia screens, Harry found the entry he was looking for. KLUTZON'S BARRIER: A term coined by Lionel Klutzon, which describes the hypothetical "limit" of number of Trials new recruits of the Academy of Espionage get before their Forgetting Curve exceeds their Learning Curve. 4. Seamlessly merge the new concept into the story and letting readers figure it out themselves. This is, of course, not as easy to do. Harry felt himself nearing the Klutzon's Barrier. He couldn't get his brain to absorb the new dossiers as fast as he'd like to be anymore. In fact, he found more and more holes in his memory; some he knew to be important to his future missions, which added to his frustration. Right now, my strategy is to just mix these techniques up for variation and freshness. Do you have a better tips? Maybe you can share other techniques? Thanks in advance!
I would do it in a scene where people mention it by name in a way that makes it clear what it is. I mean demonstrate it rather than explain it, so it doesn't read like a textbook entry. Maybe something like this: The teacher had been scrawling diagrams on the chalkboard to the point that there was no room left and he had to repeatedly erase a section and draw more. While he was busy doing this, a student in the second row said "Come on teach! You've passed Klutzon's barrier! We can't absorb any more info today." A wave of muttered agreement drifted around the room. The teacher swiveled his head toward the student with a piercing stare, raised one eyebrow, then broke into a grin. "You're right, Sorry about that! We'll break here and pick up tomorrow." Later in the story you can give a little more info if you think it's necessary, but readers will definitely understand the concept at that point. And as a side note, with a phrase like that I would consider having a popular nickname for it, something like 'Come on, we're Kluztin' out here man! Give us a break." This would be understandable after the full term has been introduced.
“[The Force is] an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the galaxy together.” - Star Wars: A New Hope "During the battle, Rebel spies managed to steal secret plans to the Empire's ultimate weapon, the DEATH STAR, an armored space station with enough power to destroy an entire planet." - Star Wars: A New Hope “There's mention over two hundred years ago in Ireland of Angelus, the one with the angelic face.” -Buffy The Vampire Slayer "It's a perfectly cromulent word." -The Simpsons
I just want to point out that, except for the last one, these are all done through Telling, so they're weak and come across sounding like a textbook. That's OK at times, but I would try to avoid it if possible.
Nothin' wrong with telling. It's straightforward and gets the point across, which can be a lot more practical in a lot of instances. You just don't want to overdo and tell everything all the time. I would strongly recommend that! IMO the best way to learn is by example -- you find a thing you like and you study it to figure out how it works. I think the ways you've outlined are all solid when done well, and there are a couple more I can think of that sort of branch off of them: 1) Rather than having Alex explain the concept to Bob straight out, have them discuss it. Explanations work well if the POV character doesn't know what's going on, but by having the characters discuss the thing, you can get a little more information. Alex offhandedly remarks that they're getting their spacefuture drugs from Sirius 5 now, and Bob is expresses irritation because everyone knows the best spacefuture drugs come from Sirius 4. 2) Rather than having the omniscient narrator explain something, have the POV character reflect on what they know about the thing. Alex mentions spacefuture drugs, and Bob thinks, That's weird. Usually we get our spacefuture drugs from Sirius 4. The drug mines on Sirius 5 are garbage. You don't necessarily fit in more information, but you do potentially get in characterization for your POV character.
You seem to be somewhat well read. Trust your convictions as a reader. What are you willing to tolerate from an author when reading their work? Maybe write a stand alone short piece before the story. Or maybe certain information can be found by your characters, say on a piece of paper or a book.... More commonly I have noticed author's use dialogue between two or three characters to 'reveal.' This works as long as the info dropping gets to the point and does not interrupt the flow of the passage, chapter and overall story. It can also come as a relief to a reader when they know that the certain three characters get together to discover something, it means the reader can learn something too. Dumbledore wasn't just the greatest wizard of all time, (so they say) but he was also the biggest info dropper and giver of clues. Hagrid wasn't just a great oaf, but he was also a great info dropper. Once you have some info dropping characters it actually enables you to be a bit cryptic (in the case of Dumbledore). Most detective, murder mystery stories have them. Anyway, look at this as a reader and not a writer. Your inner reader will guide your inner writer! **Just re-reading your original post. 1 to 3 work well but leaving it to the reader to figure out is not a good option. You the author (authority) should ensure all readers have an equal and the same understanding of your ideas. That can’t be done by leaving to interpretation IMO.
Superb and helpful tips from you guys and girls so far! I'll take the encouragements from @izzybot and @Richach to revisit some of the books I've read to learn what successful authors had done right before. Yes, I think this would be a great example for the method number 4 I listed above. I'm going to agree with @izzybot here and say that I find no problems in Telling, as long as it's not overdone. Sure, Showing all the time might be textbook-ideal, according to the old show, don't tell platitude. But often I found new writers took the advice too seriously and ended up writing verbose, unreadable block of texts just to describe a concept where a simple definition would perfectly suffice. Too many writers don't "get" how to Show correctly. Which is in turn one of the reasons I made this thread in the first place: are there simpler ways?
