: Re: How to introduce a world that's alien to the reader I'm writing sort of a space-opera and I was wondering what would the best way to explain everything about the world to my readers. The

@Berryessa137

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One common way to do this is to have one character that is as new to the environment and knows as little about it as the reader. (I think this is what meer2kat's answer was talking about.) Then as the character learns when s/he needs to know, the readers learn it, too.

For example, if you've read DUNE, consider the part where Paul and mother run away to live among the Fremen. They're a foreign people in an exotic and dangerous place, so at first they ask a lot of questions about how Fremen live and why, but as they learn to understand the Fremen, so do we the readers.

And consider how many movies and first episodes of TV shows begin with the arrival of a new character. They have to get to know the other people, their interrelationships, and the "local rules." As learn them, the audience does, too.

I'm struggling with this exact situation myself, and it's not easy. It's like a tug-of-war between "explain too much and be boring" and "explain too little and be confusing." Usually I err toward less explanation, then I have someone I trust read a passage. If they're confused or have questions, I reconsider what I've written. Good luck to you.

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