Definitely agree with the advice - one of the current books I'm finishing I got really stuck on until my editor/first reader/excellent friend nudged me to lean into The Hero being a really super big classics nerd. (I mean, he is actually a classicist.) Once I did, his voice actually worked, and the book got a lot better really fast.
(Ok, so, leaning into Greek concepts about colour terminology, also just fun.)
In terms of avoiding the infodump, the thing that works for me (both as a reader and I hope as a writer) is use the context to make it how people think about what they're experiencing, and putting it into that situation. And then, as necessary, adding enough detail that a reader who doesn't know the thing can get the relevant stuff from context.
The trick with it is - as other commenters have noted - leaning into it, but also having enough knowledge to get it right. A lot of the YA/New Adult books at boarding schools and colleges completely kick me out of the narrative, because having worked at an independent day school, a college, and a university, as well as having gone to boarding school, people keep doing things that make absolutely no logical sense (and have no plot benefit) if the institution is going to survive for more than like, a week.
(Hogwarts mostly gets a pass, because house elves, magic, and because clearly no one is actually applying necessary details of health and safety concerns consistently, and that's actually a relevant plot point. But if you have a theoretically functional institution, then there's a lot of stuff that has a relatively limited number of options for how it can work at an institution of any size if people are not dying all the time, and getting regular meals, and so on.)
no subject
(Ok, so, leaning into Greek concepts about colour terminology, also just fun.)
In terms of avoiding the infodump, the thing that works for me (both as a reader and I hope as a writer) is use the context to make it how people think about what they're experiencing, and putting it into that situation. And then, as necessary, adding enough detail that a reader who doesn't know the thing can get the relevant stuff from context.
The trick with it is - as other commenters have noted - leaning into it, but also having enough knowledge to get it right. A lot of the YA/New Adult books at boarding schools and colleges completely kick me out of the narrative, because having worked at an independent day school, a college, and a university, as well as having gone to boarding school, people keep doing things that make absolutely no logical sense (and have no plot benefit) if the institution is going to survive for more than like, a week.
(Hogwarts mostly gets a pass, because house elves, magic, and because clearly no one is actually applying necessary details of health and safety concerns consistently, and that's actually a relevant plot point. But if you have a theoretically functional institution, then there's a lot of stuff that has a relatively limited number of options for how it can work at an institution of any size if people are not dying all the time, and getting regular meals, and so on.)