How to Avoid Info-Dumps
What Do People Need To Know? And How Do We Tell Them?
What's Info-Dumping?
The term info-dumping applies to writers putting too much background information in a big dump that detracts from the right-now action of the story.
Why is it wrong? Shouldn't our readers know what is going on with our characters? If our female heroine has post-traumatic stress disorder syndrome because they were sexually abused by a step-father, and any male getting too close is a trigger; The reader should know, shouldn't they? Yes, of course, but how we tell them needs to keep the pages turning, not slow the story's pace. Supposedly, info-dumps make our reader's mind wander, boring them. If we do a good job weaving in backstory, it can be immersive, and if it's not, we can make a reader close the book, never to return.
Here are some tips for using backstory without info-dumping:
Ask, do we really need the piece of backstory? When we create all this stuff for our characters, it doesn't mean we have to use it all. Will the story still function if we take it out? If the answer is yes, it might be a good thing to delete it.
Having backstory at the beginning of our story is especially frowned upon. It creates distance between the character and the reader. Stay in the now, with action.
Look at one piece of backstory at a time and see if it can be woven into an existing scene. Don't pull readers out of the story. Putting information in a scene where it shouldn't be will stand out like a sore thumb.
Or create a new scene for the info we want to weave in.
Invent a novice character to whom your character can explain things, but they can't just be in one scene and disappear, never to reappear.
Use Flashbacks. Use a trigger; a certain sound or smell causes our character to remember something they'd forgotten. Flashbacks work but remember, they can also work against us, pulling our readers out of a scene they've become invested in. Make sure the character lands back in the spot the reader was invested in to begin with.
Use the bread Crumb or Drip it in method. Once we know what we want to say, we can break it into smaller sections and spread it throughout our story. This works exceptionally well if we're writing a suspense book; even if it's not, it creates tension and surprise or more conflict for our story.
Make any piece of information as short as we can
Make it part of the dialogue. Be careful here, or it can sound stilted. The discussion needs to sound natural and effortless.
If you are hell-bent on info-dumping, be creative about it. Use a diary, newspaper article, or radio interview or make it as funny as hell or entertaining. If you do this, they won't even know they are reading an info dump or won't mind as much.
Surround our info dump with action so everything keeps moving and doesn't stagnate.
If you have other ideas on how to weave background information into your story without info-dumping, please leave a comment.
Next week, I'm reviewing several books I've noticed I use almost weekly and a website that some of my writing friends use that I thought you might be interested in. Don't forget to do some plotting if you're doing NaNoWriMo and register. The best to all of you.