David Mamet on exposition

[davidlevine]

"The trick is to leave everything out. That's the whole trick to drama. ... You've got to leave the narration out, because anybody can say 'Well, well, Jim, welcome back to Antarctica, I haven't seen you since we cured cancer together in 1985, how's your wife and is she still an albino?'"

-- David Mamet on Fresh Air, 3/14/06

Comments

[calimac.livejournal.com]

If that's the trick, it's amazing how many writers don't know it, particular screenwriters.

I'd say the trick is: getting the information in without making it sound like that.