: Re: Avoiding the "as you know" trope in exposition When writing fiction, especially in universes other than our own such as sci-fi/fantasy genres, the reader often has to be given a piece of information

@Goswami879

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As best as I can tell, it boils down to the same rule of show/tell. When writing a science fiction or fantasy on the screen or set, you want to show off the world that you've created as best as you can, and not tell about it.

As far as screenwriting is concerned, Stargate Sg-1 was chock-full of exposition, but they made light of it with a scientifically impaired protagonist and a pair of obsessive scientists who always needed to explain things to the protagonist.

It's a real problem, particularly on television. Star Trek and Star Wars both did a fairly good job of keeping exposition to a minimum. However, Star Trek basically wound up defining "techno-babble," and Star Wars was more of a visual science fiction than anything else. They are better, albeit cliche, examples of non-exposing sci fi than Stargate.

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