History Main / ExpoSpeak

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-->-- '''Christopher Backeberg''', 2006 Winner of the [[Literature/BulwerLyttonContest Bulwer-Lytton fiction contest]], Science Fiction category.

-->-- '''Christopher Backeberg''', 2006 Winner of the [[http://www.bulwer-lytton.com/ Bulwer-Lytton fiction contest,]] Science Fiction category.

-->-- '''Christopher Backeberg''', 2006 Winner of the [[http://www.bulwer-lytton.com/ Bulwer-Lytton fiction contest]], Science Fiction category.

It's not simply limited to technology: ScienceFiction writers want to explain ''everything''. How does their evil plan work? What's their motivation for carrying it out? How old is the character? What's his backstory? What's the political history of the region he's living in? A good writer in other genres will probably ''know'' all of these things, but only in ScienceFiction will the writer feel the need to actually ''tell'' us all of it -- it frequently seems as though the author is less concerned that the audience won't understand what's going on, and more concerned that they might not believe that he's really thought everything all the way through. Sadly, this often serves the opposite purpose, making the audience all the more painfully aware when the explanations don't quite add up. The ContinuityNod abounds too.

Note that some recent series -- especially ones which have had mainstream success -- have tried to avoid Expospeak, such as the new ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}'' and ''Series/DoctorWho''. What they pick up in the mainstream, they often lose on the fringes, [[TheCoconutEffect as fans accuse the writers of sloppiness because they ''didn't'' explain everything]]. Reflecting this trend, a {{New Media|Tropes}} format of Expospeak was used in ''Anime/{{GunBuster}}'', where it was limited to [[BonusMaterial omake segments]] on the tapes/laserdiscs/[=DVDs=], and completely separate from the main show.

When the writer gets sufficiently desperate to explain a bit of science or continuity, one can be left with the impression that he's not doing it so much for our benefit, as to [[ShownTheirWork make sure we know]] ''he'' did his homework.

{{Expospeak}} is facilitated by:

* See {{Exposition}} for the full list.

Note that some recent series -- especially ones which have had mainstream success -- have tried to avoid Expospeak, such as the new ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}'' and ''Series/DoctorWho''. What they pick up in the mainstream, they often lose on the fringes, [[TheCoconutEffect as fans become angered and accuse the writers of sloppiness because they ''didn't'' explain everything.]] A different example of Expospeak would be ''Anime/{{GunBuster}}'', where the Expospeak was limited to {{Omake}} segments on the tapes/laserdiscs/[=DVDs=], which were completely separate from the main show.

A predilection for Expospeak hasn't prevented PoliceProcedural shows such as ''Series/{{CSI}}'' from leaping to the top of the UsefulNotes/{{ratings}} (and Dan Brown's books, laden with Expospeak about different subjects, to the top of the bestsellers list), lending credence to the oft-expressed idea that the reason speculative fiction only ''seems'' to be in decline as a genre is because its tropes have been adopted by the mainstream.

See Also: LuckilyMyPowersWillProtectMe, CallingYourAttacks, InformingTheFourthWall

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<<|{{Exposition}}|>>
<<|SpeculativeFictionTropes|>>

See Also: LuckilyMyPowersWillProtectMe, CallingYourAttacks

<<|SpeculativeFictionTropes|>>

A predilection for Expospeak hasn't prevented PoliceProcedural shows such as ''Series/{{CSI}}'' from leaping to the top of the {{ratings}} (and Dan Brown's books, laden with Expospeak about different subjects, to the top of the bestsellers list), lending credence to the oft-expressed idea that the reason speculative fiction only ''seems'' to be in decline as a genre is because its tropes have been adopted by the mainstream.

Note that some recent series -- especially ones which have had mainstream success -- have tried to avoid Expospeak, such as the new ''[[Series/BattlestarGalacticaReimagined Battlestar Galactica]]'' and ''Series/DoctorWho''. What they pick up in the mainstream, they often lose on the fringes, [[TheCoconutEffect as fans become angered and accuse the writers of sloppiness because they ''didn't'' explain everything.]] A different example of Expospeak would be ''Anime/{{GunBuster}}'', where the Expospeak was limited to {{Omake}} segments on the tapes/laserdiscs/[=DVDs=], which were completely separate from the main show.

Note that some recent series -- especially ones which have had mainstream success -- have tried to avoid Expospeak, such as the new ''[[Series/BattlestarGalacticaReimagined Battlestar Galactica]]'' and ''Series/DoctorWho''. What they pick up in the mainstream, they often lose on the fringes, [[TheCoconutEffect as fans become angered and accuse the writers of sloppiness because they ''didn't'' explain everything.]] A different example of Expospeak would be {{GunBuster}}, where the Expospeak was limited to {{Omake}} segments on the tapes/laserdiscs/[=DVDs=], which were completely separate from the main show.

-->--'''Christopher Backeberg''', 2006 Winner of the [[http://www.bulwer-lytton.com/ Bulwer-Lytton fiction contest]], Science Fiction category.

A predilection for Expospeak hasn't prevented PoliceProcedural shows such as ''{{CSI}}'' from leaping to the top of the {{ratings}} (and Dan Brown's books, laden with Expospeak about different subjects, to the top of the bestsellers list), lending credence to the oft-expressed idea that the reason speculative fiction only ''seems'' to be in decline as a genre is because its tropes have been adopted by the mainstream.

* AsYouKnow -- Note, though, that not all instances of AsYouKnow are {{Expospeak}}: when an AsYouKnow is used to reveal something that previously happened off-screen or to reference a previous episode, that's not {{Expospeak}}. When it's used to frame an explanation about how the ''world'' of the series works, it is.

Note that some recent series -- especially ones which have had mainstream success -- have tried to avoid {{Expospeak}}, such as the new ''[[Series/BattlestarGalacticaReimagined Battlestar Galactica]]'' and ''Series/DoctorWho''. What they pick up in the mainstream, they often lose on the fringes, [[TheCoconutEffect as fans become angered and accuse the writers of sloppiness because they ''didn't'' explain everything.]] A different example of {{Expospeak}} would be {{GunBuster}}, where the {{Expospeak}} was limited to {{Omake}} segments on the tapes/laserdiscs/[=DVDs=], which were completely separate from the main show.

A predilection for ExpoSpeak hasn't prevented PoliceProcedural shows such as ''{{CSI}}'' from leaping to the top of the {{ratings}} (and Dan Brown's books, laden with Expospeak about different subjects, to the top of the bestsellers list), lending credence to the oft-expressed idea that the reason speculative fiction only ''seems'' to be in decline as a genre is because its tropes have been adopted by the mainstream.

Note that some recent series -- especially ones which have had mainstream success -- have tried to avoid {{Expospeak}}, such as the new ''[[Series/BattlestarGalacticaReimagined Battlestar Galactica]]'' and ''Series/DoctorWho''. What they pick up in the mainstream, they often lose on the fringes, as fans become angered and accuse the writers of sloppiness because they ''didn't'' explain everything. A different example of {{Expospeak}} would be {{GunBuster}}, where the {{Expospeak}} was limited to {{Omake}} segments on the tapes/laserdiscs/[=DVDs=], which were completely separate from the main show.