How to show-not-tell story settings, history, backgrounds?

[ReadLight]

Hello random internet authors, I have encountered a little writing issue and would like some suggestions.

Stories have settings; for world-building, they can also have history; for characters (especially newly-introduced ones), they may have backgrounds. I've tried to write some of those in my story recently, but the chapter came out feeling boring.

Here's my method: Character remembers that [insert history narration].
Character tinkers with his/her special abilities and finds that [insert ability and setting explination].
As for character background, just straight up write it out like it's a cover letter of a job application: This character has [insert feats he/she/it has done in the past]

It does the job of telling, but the downside is that if the above elements are at least a little complex, the narration/explanation would be very boring to read.

The first thing that comes to my mind as a potential solution to this issue would be to show the settings, histories, abilities, etc. instead of straight-up telling.
But I have no idea how to do that.

Does anyone have any suggestions?
How would you write/explain your story's settings, histories, and backgrounds?

 

[dummycake]

The way I do it's just mentioning without explaining it on your face.
Mine is in an alternate universe, so there's different things happening.
IRL we don't do and say things explaining them like there's a new born baby following us everywhere
I just turn on my phone, if an alien doesn't know what it is they would figure it out through context clues, y'know?
Sorry if I couldn't help you much, I'm not good at explaining things

 

[Deleted member 84247]

The way to do it is to spread out the world in a way that makes sense for the story. If character A is going through back alleys on a mission, you don't need to start explaining the whole city or the world. Character A has a goal that they need to achieve, explain any worldbuilding relevant to that goal as it is necessary. But do it in a way that is not info dumpy.

Character A sees the houses, so what are the houses like? We can get hints about your world by your scenery.

 

[ReadLight]

The way I do it's just mentioning without explaining it on your face.
Mine is in an alternate universe, so there's different things happening.
IRL we don't do and say things explaining them like there's a new born baby following us everywhere
I just turn on my phone, if an alien doesn't know what it is they would figure it out through context clues, y'know?
Sorry if I couldn't help you much, I'm not good at explaining things

It's fine, what I asked wasn't an easily-answerable question to begin with. The question itself is quite vague. Thank you for your input.

The way to do it is to spread out the world in a way that makes sense for the story. If character A is going through back alleys on a mission, you don't need to start explaining the whole city or the world. Character A has a goal that they need to achieve, explain any worldbuilding relevant to that goal as it is necessary. But do it in a way that is not info dumpy.

Character A sees the houses, so what are the houses like? We can get hints about your world by your scenery.

Spread it out and explain the important relevant things one at a time. Got it. Thx.

 

[TheEldritchGod]

I tell not show.

The narrator is specifically talking to one individual and as the story goes on, the narrator breaks in to tell a rambling story periodically. BTW, the story isn't being told to you. You just happen to be listening in. basically it's Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy.

 

[Deleted member 84247]

It's fine, what I asked wasn't an easily-answerable question to begin with. The question itself is quite vague. Thank you for your input.

Spread it out and explain the important relevant things one at a time. Got it. Thx.

At the risk of over explaining things, I will also say that your adjectives are what paint a picture of your world. If I say "dilapidated slums" what does make you think about? Does it make you think of a poor city? Does it make you think of an upper echelon without a heart? Does it make you think of terrible nobility?

You can use stuff like this to expound upon ideas.

"The whole city was dilapidated slums."

"The dilapidated slums stood in contrast to the marbled castle."

Two simple sentences give you two very different ideas about the government of the city and the city itself.

 

[Ms.Appropriately]

Another thing that helps me is to remember that the reader is smarter than you expect, and can handle a little mystery. If you reference things in your worldbuilding, you can just choose to not explain them until they come up. For example, say your world has an advanced transit system just called the Nav. The reader doesn't always need you to go, "Oh right, the Nav, that's our transit system! You know, the one that was created fifty years ago and runs across...." Instead, you can just say, "Character X stepped onto the Nav, waiting for the hissing doors to slide shut, and hearing the rumbling of the engines ignite below. Twelve minutes until they get to Location Y, but with how jostling and explosive the Nav is, it always feels shorter." It adds to the atmosphere and encourages your reader to keep their mind active as they read, drawing them into the setting without spoon-feeding details.

For something like character backstory, show the impacts of that backstory without telling the story, and then let the reader piece together the mystery of their actions. For example - say a character has a bad history with a person in the story, from before the story takes place. Instead of telling us why that history exists, launch us right into the middle of the drama; Character X makes a point of telling people not to trust Character Y, and when asked, won't tell the story, instead just giving a vague response towards their untrustworthiness. They argue and bicker, but it isn't until much later we learn its because Character Y stole a bunch of money from them, or something like that. Meanwhile, before the reader gets those details, they start to draw their own conclusions with the background, which keeps them engaged and interested.

 

[Succubiome]

Yesterday I wrote a horribly exposition-y chapter and ended up scrapping it, so I think I understand the feeling, more or less.

Random thoughts:
You can use emotion as an excuse to spell something out-- someone ranting about the restrictions Fictionia has on purple clothing, when they fucking love fashion and they just hate it so much it's so arbitrary, etc. Maybe throw in a dig at their ex they hate in there for a little extra exposition.

You can have a character focus on something because it's an interest or history of theirs-- say, if a character grew up in a smithy, and is always noticing on and commenting on metalwork-- they don't need to spell out why they know this, they can offhandedly mention it once and it'll just fit nicely in with the character who has an eye for metal.

You can have a character take a dramatic action that mirrors their past-- if a character tries to get people to see through a snake oil salesman's lies, and is then like, offhandedly mentions that their mom sold snake oil when they grew up, you have an interesting little implication there without ever outright saying anything.

You can have a viewpoint character say offhand things in description that gives away a little more of their past or personality-- like, getting nervous around an area that reminds them of a traumatic experience they had, or noting how someone reminds them of their first love.

For a metaphor... maybe think of it as a bit like painting in a more impressionistic manner, rather than trying to paint photorealistically?

 

[melchi]

The benefit of telling is that it can be done quickly.

Story Marc has a good video about it. The main thing I think is the relevance. If it is not super relevant at that moment a sentence or two in passive is probably okay.

 

[Ms.Appropriately]

Another thing that helps me is to remember that the reader is smarter than you expect, and can handle a little mystery. If you reference things in your worldbuilding, you can just choose to not explain them until they come up. For example, say your world has an advanced transit system just called the Nav. The reader doesn't always need you to go, "Oh right, the Nav, that's our transit system! You know, the one that was created fifty years ago and runs across...." Instead, you can just say, "Character X stepped onto the Nav, waiting for the hissing doors to slide shut, and hearing the rumbling of the engines ignite below. Twelve minutes until they get to Location Y, but with how jostling and explosive the Nav is, it always feels shorter." It adds to the atmosphere and encourages your reader to keep their mind active as they read, drawing them into the setting without spoon-feeding details.

For something like character backstory, show the impacts of that backstory without telling the story, and then let the reader piece together the mystery of their actions. For example - say a character has a bad history with a person in the story, from before the story takes place. Instead of telling us why that history exists, launch us right into the middle of the drama; Character X makes a point of telling people not to trust Character Y, and when asked, won't tell the story, instead just giving a vague response towards their untrustworthiness. They argue and bicker, but it isn't until much later we learn its because Character Y stole a bunch of money from them, or something like that. Meanwhile, before the reader gets those details, they start to draw their own conclusions with the background, which keeps them engaged and interested.

Another thing that works well, but can be difficult for me to accept, is that some of the worldbuilding you do just isn't for the reader's eyes. A lot of it is just the scaffolding of the story, holding the set together enough to keep the story going. They don't need to know about the 500-year-old war that reshaped the borders and allegiances of the countries now, those are just things that shaped the world. An offhand mention will do the trick, even if you'd love to really get into the gory details of it. So, rather than exposit on these details, just accept them as facts in the world that everyone knows and responds to, even if they don't go into explanation of it. Even with like 10% of the worldbuilding, the reader can follow what's happening. Too much detail will be boring or overwhelming

 

[TUSOG]

I am having the same issue too. Someone suggested i describe/show things more instead of just telling. But i also don't want to be too specific that i limit the imagination of the reader. It's a real struggle

 

[ReadLight]

Instead, you can just say, "Character X stepped onto the Nav, waiting for the hissing doors to slide shut, and hearing the rumbling of the engines ignite below. Twelve minutes until they get to Location Y, but with how jostling and explosive the Nav is, it always feels shorter."

Character X makes a point of telling people not to trust Character Y, and when asked, won't tell the story, instead just giving a vague response towards their untrustworthiness. They argue and bicker, but it isn't until much later we learn its because Character Y stole a bunch of money from them

I have learned. Thank you.

rather than exposit on these details, just accept them as facts in the world that everyone knows and responds to, even if they don't go into explanation of it. Even with like 10% of the worldbuilding, the reader can follow what's happening. Too much detail will be boring or overwhelming

I'll keep that in mind. Thank you.

 

[C_A_D_M_U_S]

Hello random internet authors, I have encountered a little writing issue and would like some suggestions.

Stories have settings; for world-building, they can also have history; for characters (especially newly-introduced ones), they may have backgrounds. I've tried to write some of those in my story recently, but the chapter came out feeling boring.

Here's my method: Character remembers that [insert history narration].
Character tinkers with his/her special abilities and finds that [insert ability and setting explination].
As for character background, just straight up write it out like it's a cover letter of a job application: This character has [insert feats he/she/it has done in the past]

It does the job of telling, but the downside is that if the above elements are at least a little complex, the narration/explanation would be very boring to read.

The first thing that comes to my mind as a potential solution to this issue would be to show the settings, histories, abilities, etc. instead of straight-up telling.
But I have no idea how to do that.

Does anyone have any suggestions?
How would you write/explain your story's settings, histories, and backgrounds?

I also have the same problem tbh but this particular video helped me quite a lot:

I'm still trying to implement these though and not go back to the habit of "telling too much" again.