: Re: How should I introduce new and complex technologies or tools? I'm writing a Science Fiction book. While this book doesn't push reality very far, there are some new technologies and tools that

@Debbie451

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Introduce a cabbagehead character.

"Cabbagehead" is a term from Phil Farrand, who wrote the Nitpicker's Guides to various Star Trek series. He points out that particularly in NextGen, it became necessary for one person to abruptly (and temporarily) develop the IQ of a head of cabbage, so that the other characters could explain the situation and the audience could get the information they needed. This position rotated depending on the episode and the plot.

So if you have someone who's a newbie to the MYTO system, and your protagonist has to train him or her in its use (or at least explain the gist of it), that will allow you to give the basics to your audience.

I would recommend trying to get away with as little explanation as you can in the beginning, though, since (as you noticed) too much exposition drags things down. Teach the newbie the basics and then drop in more details elsewhere. A chapter or two later, someone moderately skilled could come in and say, "Hey, Bob, I just tried out the Foo function you added to the MYTO. That was amazing, man!" and Fred says, "What's the Foo function?" and Bob can explain what it is.

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