Exposition Masquerading as Dialogue

Jenn's post yesterday got me thinking about some of the habits I've had to overcome since I began writing. One of my bad habits was thinking that because I'm using dialogue in a scene I'm showing and not telling. Unfortunately, that is not always true. This short article from http://www.tkkenyon.com/fiction-writing-exposition.html illustrates this common pitfall and how to avoid it. I'm happy to say that I wasn't quite as bad as this example, but oft times our flawed techniques are subtle, which can make them harder to overcome.

"As You Know, Bob." -- Exposition Masquerading as Dialogue

If your dialogue sounds too stilted, you may have exposition passing itself off as dialogue. Dialogue's one and only purpose is to elucidate tension between characters. It is not, ever, ever, to convey information. A bad example of what I mean:

Exposition masquerading as dialogue: "As you know, Bob, we've been stuck on this desert island for twenty years, eating only the coconuts that grow on the one tree and fish which we catch with our hands. We have several vitamin deficiencies, and you've been picking your nose this whole time. Stop it, or I'm going to kill you!"

Or:

Dramatized exposition, and one line of dialogue: Ted pounded the coconut open with a rock. It wasn't quite ripe yet, but he was so tired of fish, and his fingernails stung in the salt water where they cracked and peeled.

Bob sat on the beach a few yards away. He was picking his nose again. Again.

"Stop it!" Ted screamed and picked up the rock he had used to smash the green coconut into meaty fragments.