Writers are constantly trying to striking the perfect balance between providing readers with the important information they need to know without providing unnecessary details.
Basically, they’re avoiding info dumping, which can kill the momentum of a story and turn a reader away.
We don’t want that.
Avoiding, or at least limiting, an info dump can be daunting, even for the most experienced writers. (We all do it, so don’t judge if you see it in my writings-LOL).
But hopefully by the end of this post, you’ll have a better understanding of exactly what info dumping is, but how and why it should be avoided.
What is Info Dumping?
Info dumping is the practice of overwhelming readers with excessive or unnecessary information in a concentrated section of your writing. Results of info dumping is not only a tedious reading experience. It’s the writer providing (and possibly exhaustively so) extensive details, backstories, and/or explanations in one fell swoop. This disrupts the flow of the story and impedes reader immersion.
This might be repetitive (but it’s done for emphasis) but here are three reasons why to avoid bombarding readers with necessary context which can be detrimental to the overall storytelling:
Reader Engagement: Info dumping interrupts the natural progression of the story. Large amounts of information becomes difficult for readers to stay connected to the characters and plot.
Pacing and Flow: Info dumping slows the pace and flow of the narrative. Be the tortoise and not the hare. Slow and steady wins the race (and we’re not talking about pacing here). A smooth and gradual release of information allows readers to learn more about the characters and world. Dumping a truckload of information will make the reading experience disjointed for the reader.
Showing vs. Telling: When you’re info dumping, you’re telling and not showing. A cardinal writing rule is “show, don’t tell.” Info dumping is the author telling, and likely explicitly done instead of subtly weaving important information into the story. Telling makes a story flat and less engaging.
7 Tips to Help Avoid Info Dumps
- Prioritize Relevance: Only include information relevant to the immediate scene, or information crucial to understand of the story, either up until that point or to foreshadow. The information on characters and plot could be considered, and whether it can be gradually revealed for the sake of reader interest.
- Show Through Action and Dialogue: Let background information unfold naturally through your character’s actions and dialogue. Don’t directly reveal the information. This way, you’ll create more dynamic scenes and thus they become deeper and more meaningful.
- Integrate Information into Descriptions: Blending necessary information into your descriptions, settings, or character observations. Readers will absorb the details organically, and more importantly, won’t be overwhelmed.
- Utilize Multiple Scenes: Take your time. You got an entire novel and tens of thousands of words to tell the story. So there’s no need to practice word vomit into a scene, or paragraph. Disseminate it across multiple scenes or chapters. Again, allow your readers to absorb and digest the information, which will mean better information retention and reader engagement.
- Dialogue as an Expository Tool: Develop conversations that naturally reveal important details, conflicts, and character backgrounds. Engaging dialogue can serve as an effective tool for conveying information without resorting to info dumping. And for the love of Pete, try your absolute best not to resort to the “As you know, Bob” trope. K.M. Weiland will tell you why the “As you know, Bob” trope is no bueno.
- Trust Readers’ Intelligence: Encourages active reader participation, which will enhance their engagement in the story. So, don’t spoon-feed readers every detail. Trust your readers and make the work a bit where they can fill in some gaps for themselves.
- Use Flashbacks and Memories Sparingly: This is a “don’t use” tip, but don’t go to this well too many times. Overuse of flashbacks and memories have the potential to disrupt the flow of the main narrative, thus creating confusion. Integrate them when they enhance the story to provide valuable backstory.