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Infodumps
One of the huge advantages of writing fanfic is that you don't have to explain anything: who these people are, what they're doing here, who they are to each other; this has all been established for us.
Original fiction is a whole different story.
I've really been struggling with this lately. Part of the problem is that I've recently read several fantasy novels that are horribly heavy-handed with their infodumps (including one with a character who was prone to giving page-long history lessons to the other characters at the drop of a hat), which has led me to being extremely gun-shy about explaining anything. But eventually the reader needs some kind of payoff for their detective work.
Personally, I tend to prefer books and movies that lean towards less explanation rather than more; I really love being dropped in the middle of the action and having to figure out what's going on, assuming that it's actually possible to figure out what's going on. On the other hand, it's very easy to go overboard with that sort of thing; I hate the feeling that the writer is being deliberately coy with me, withholding information or obfuscating their created reality with cutesy techniques like using made-up names for ordinary household objects.
I suppose I'm not really going anywhere with this; I've just spent the day slogging through edits on my graphic novel, and I'm coming to the point where I'm tempted to cut out a couple pages of explanation, since the information on those pages is seeded through other parts of the novel. My beta reader suggests that I eliminate the wordy explanations and let the reader figure things out for themselves. However, since some of this is fairly critical plot information, I'm worried that it might force the readers to do a little *too* much work on their own.
It doesn't help that, being a graphic novel, I can't just drop out a paragraph or two; I have to rearrange pages, panels and dialogue balloons in order to seamlessly eliminate some of the explanation.
Do you have any thoughts on this, as a reader or a writer? Are there certain techniques that you find effective for delivering large chunks of information to the reader, or do you think all such things should be avoided and vital information should be parceled out as part of the natural flow of the story?
Original fiction is a whole different story.
I've really been struggling with this lately. Part of the problem is that I've recently read several fantasy novels that are horribly heavy-handed with their infodumps (including one with a character who was prone to giving page-long history lessons to the other characters at the drop of a hat), which has led me to being extremely gun-shy about explaining anything. But eventually the reader needs some kind of payoff for their detective work.
Personally, I tend to prefer books and movies that lean towards less explanation rather than more; I really love being dropped in the middle of the action and having to figure out what's going on, assuming that it's actually possible to figure out what's going on. On the other hand, it's very easy to go overboard with that sort of thing; I hate the feeling that the writer is being deliberately coy with me, withholding information or obfuscating their created reality with cutesy techniques like using made-up names for ordinary household objects.
I suppose I'm not really going anywhere with this; I've just spent the day slogging through edits on my graphic novel, and I'm coming to the point where I'm tempted to cut out a couple pages of explanation, since the information on those pages is seeded through other parts of the novel. My beta reader suggests that I eliminate the wordy explanations and let the reader figure things out for themselves. However, since some of this is fairly critical plot information, I'm worried that it might force the readers to do a little *too* much work on their own.
It doesn't help that, being a graphic novel, I can't just drop out a paragraph or two; I have to rearrange pages, panels and dialogue balloons in order to seamlessly eliminate some of the explanation.
Do you have any thoughts on this, as a reader or a writer? Are there certain techniques that you find effective for delivering large chunks of information to the reader, or do you think all such things should be avoided and vital information should be parceled out as part of the natural flow of the story?
no subject
And I sort of figured out that all readers are different. Honestly, some people absorb information like a sponge. There the ones who loved Tolkien, who can read whole memoirs without stopping, can stare at the Discovery channel for hours. Then you've the ones who can't sit through a sitcom, can't read just one book at a time (my friend Mike is reading 5 right now, which boggles me), and get bored at baseball games. My point is that you can't please everyone.
All I try to do is to keep it simple. As much as I can. I think information is fun to a degree -- I really do, because it invites people into a world, makes them feel like they have an insider knowledge -- but it can't be a wall. So, what's a wall? A block of text. I really think a visual block of text will throw off a reader more than the information itself. Break it up, spread it around, try to add a wry statement or two, and it makes the infodump more fun.
I still suck at dealing with the infodump, and still get paranoid about it, and I always will, but that's what I can offer. Hope it helps.