Hello! I'm not sure if this is the right forum to post this on -- if it's not I apologize and will move it wherever it fits! I'm writing about a human scientist named Cassie who's been living and performing research on an alien planet for about two years. The book starts on the day her new experiment is slated to start, and she's one of thousands of scientists on this alien planet. My issue is this: I'm having a hard time inserting the exposition for this planet in a way that feels natural and goes with the flow of the introductory scene. And since Cassie isn't a newcomer, she already knows about as much as anyone else about the planet, and she wouldn't explain it to anyone. She is a scientist...Would it be clunky and obvious to have her marvel over some aspect of it then muse on her time there? Like she looks at a sunrise and that works as an introduction saying "We are not on Earth" or something? I've had a chunky expository paragraph about the planet sitting smack dab in the middle of the introduction and I hate it so much, I could use some help xD
Why would she not explain it to anyone? Couldn't someone new show up? You also could have some world building stuff covered through natural dialogue but you'll need to make sure it doesn't come across as maid and butler conversation. Isn't a Sci-Fi audience more forgiving of carefully placed exposition?
I was thinking of having some of the smaller elements kind of pop in and out. Like for example, the oxygen level is a bit lower than Earth's, but not so much that they can still breathe. So it's a routine thing that they humans go into an oxygen-rich environment as like a "system reboot". I'd say a sci-fi audience is more forgiving, but I didn't want to lean on that. I know tolerance varies a lot between readers so I didn't want to just slap anyone across the face with a big block of information, ya know? I'd only really want to do that when absolutely necessary, and try and keep the flow of the writing as organic as possible.
Speaking as a sci-fi fan, I am definitely tolerant of worldbuilding narrative. Your world sounds interesting, and I'm really curious about it. But for now, here's some ideas to make it more natural. - have her write in a log. - have her do some specific chore which has to do with her job, and she describes why this chore helps people survive or something. - oxygen is highly flammable, so you could have something go wrong with it that way and in the emergency you can explain how the crew works together. - figure out if there are parts of the backstory you can place at later times when the character is going to be present somewhere where the information is more pertinent. - have her show a newbie around. That's all I can think of for now.
That chore idea is actually really great! I love that. At first I just had her setting up her new lab space, but having some kind of assigned daily chore could be a good foray into the rest of her day. Thanks so much!
