Exposition

Well, what works for me is including some scenes of things that are happening let's say 'off-screen', but without including names. If you use these scenes wisely, they will create curiosity in the reader about who is involved in those scenes and what's going to happen.

Can you have some characters come across the result of the bad guy's activities, then show their reactions?

So would I be right in saying you're referring to backstory?

Interesting question, Sage. I have a similiar issue evolving in my writing.

I have two main characters, one male and one female. He is oblivious to the big picture, while she knows a little of what is happening because she grew up on "the inside." She knows what they've gotten themselves into is huge, but she can't guess how far it truly spans.

He has been directly affected by the "big bad's" current actions, so can piece that side of the puzzle together for the other. She knows of about the existence of the conspiracy and can piece that side of the puzzle together for him. Therefore, he can pick out what events are caused by the big bad, while she knows why.

So I think what I'm getting at is that both of their past experiences and current actions determine just how much they know. They both also have acquaintances who know more than they're letting on (one undercover on the inside, another investiagative reporter who's afraid to talk).

There are also characters who act as "middlemen" between the big bad and the other two, which keeps the true identity of the bad guy a mystery for as long as it needs to be.

I don't always make an effort to reveal characters' backstories. Sometimes it's hinted at, sometimes it comes up in their conversations, sometimes I keep it to myself, but as long as I know, that's all that matters. We don't often know everything about our associates in real life, and I don't believe it's necessary to know everything about the characters in novels we read (although I do think it helps if the author knows).

Sage said:

She's smart & ambitious, & I want my readers to know this. I don't want them to go, "Hmm, why would she want to destroy her own world?" when she has a perfectly good reason for doing what she's doing (& my test reader even gave me that comment before she got to the page that explains - "I've never gotten why bad guys would want to destroy their own world.")

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Hmmm...I guess I've had enough crazy people in my life who were willing to screw themselves over just to get at other people, that I never really ask that question. I can see why the villain would want to destroy his/her own world, because they don't become villains by liking themselves and the rest of humanity. How many people who go on a killing spree commit suicide afterward?

If she has a reason for wanting to destroy her own world, other than hating everyone and not valuing herself enough to keep her world intact, can you hint, very ambiguously, at what it is? There is something considerably different, but one of my characters has something in his closet that relates, indirectly, to a very important plot point. He has no idea it relates to this, so he doesn't talk about it much. For him, it's just something in his closet he wants rid of. I just have him rooting around in his closet looking for something and trying not to touch it. He and his roommate talk about it, but they don't explain what it is, because they already know, so there is no reason for them to explain it to each other. Could you maybe do something like that? Have Jane reference her reasons for doing what she is doing very subtly? In such a way that she already knows what she is talking about, so she doesn't bother to go into all of it. Just so long as it's subtle, so you have the reader thinking, "Okay, so maybe there's more going on here. I'll just have to keep reading and find out what it is." You can do that, as long as Jane doesn't start thinking to herself, "Little do they all know that after I destroy this world...etc."

I hope this makes sense, and I hope I'm understanding what you mean.

Sage-


You said that you want to tell readers the character's backstory, but nor let them know who she is. unless you mean that the villain turns out to be one of the other characters in the end, i don't get it.

if we know her history and personalit,y isn't that the same thign as knowing who she is?

What you can do changes since the characters know your baddie. For instance, one or two could actually be having a conversation with her, speculating on the motives of the villian. The readers (and later the characters) can connect that her speculations are actually the truth.

If your characters don't know her on such a personal level, there should be other ways to drop enough backstory without resorting to the cliched "final speech" given by the villian -- that always turns me off, but is (admittedly) hard to avoid.