Story Grid TAHere to help you tell better stories.

2 Rules to FIX the Exposition in your Writing! #author #writing #writer #books #writingcommunity

21 Aug 2026 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

0:58

In this short instructional video, the presenter shares two concrete rules for improving exposition in fiction writing. The first rule, Minimum Viable Exposition (MVE), advises writers to provide only the essential facts a reader needs to understand the current scene, avoiding unnecessary world‑building dumps or historical back‑story that do not serve the immediate narrative. The second rule, Just‑in‑Time Exposition, recommends delivering those essential facts at the moment the reader needs them, rather than front‑loading information that will only become relevant later. By applying MVE and just‑in‑time exposition, writers can prevent readers from skimming over bulky, irrelevant exposition and keep the story’s momentum strong. The video ends with a call to subscribe for more writing tips.

Chapters

I've got 2 writing rules that's going to fix your exposition. Number 1, MVE, minimum viable exposition. Only give me what I need to know in order to understand what's going on in the story. Don't give me a dump of everything about the history of the land or anything else like this. Just give me the minimum viable exposition so I know what's going on in the story. Number 2, Just-in-time exposition. Only tell me what I need to know as the reader right before I need to know it. So no more long rambling backstories about information I might need to know in 3 chapters. Just give me what I need to know as a reader right before I actually need to know it. So those are the 2 rules that'll make you stop writing stuff that readers just skim through. Minimum viable exposition. Only tell me what I absolutely need to know. And just-in-time exposition. Only tell it to me when I need to know it. Subscribe for more writing tips.