Avoid the Dreaded Info Dump
Why is Info-Dumping a Problem?
Info dumping is a problem for novice and seasoned writers alike and involves dropping a heap of information in the reader’s lap, resulting in prose that halts the story.
As a literary sin, it’s understandable; there will always be information you need to convey to your readers. But it’s a sin that’s immediately recognizable by readers and rarely forgiven.
The avalanche of information itself isn’t the problem; it’s the interruption to the narrative that pulls the reader from the tension, emotion, and immediacy.
Info-Dumping Example:
“Laura loved her dog Remy more than anything. She’d always had a dog in her life. First there was Toby, then Louie, then Rosco. She adored Remy, so she was pretty sad that she was going to have to put him to sleep because of the illness he’d been diagnosed with four months ago when she brought him to the vet because he wouldn’t eat and she…”
That’s a lot of detail in a pretty short space. It’s not exactly engaging. That emotion readers feel when a dog is harmed or threatened is strong, but they won’t feel that here. What will they feel? Bored, probably.
Don’t listen to writers who seem to be out to get the process of ‘telling’. There should always be some ‘telling’ in your novel. It really isn’t as taboo as some writers would have you believe. You can’t have a story without telling, but it has to be used with care. Generally, info dumps aren’t exactly light.
If you think you might be guilty of info-dumping, review your manuscript for any of the following types of info dumps.
Types of Info Dumps
1. Info Dumps as Backstory
This type is common and is found more often in the introduction of a story. As an author, you want your readers to know your story’s characters, their traits, and their history.
It’s easy to fall into the trap of including a laundry list of events and ordeals your characters have been through, but you have to decide if those details have earned their place in that paragraph, scene, or chapter.
You might have spent time phrasing an event and find it painful to cut, but keeping it when it doesn’t serve your story is the literary equivalent of shooting yourself in the foot.
Instead, select the most interesting and emotionally immersive details, then reflect on the best areas in which to insert them that have the most effect in aiding character development and advancing the plot.
Then, if you decide to include it, you have to ask yourself how you’re going to do that: will it be via pure narrative? Dialogue? Or flashbacks?
2. Info Dumps as Worldbuilding
Creating a new world is a monumental task that requires a great deal of work, dedication, and detail. It’s understandable that you would be tempted to illustrate your literary prowess by explaining in detail the complexities of the world, magic system, alternate universe, etc.
But the reader didn’t pick up your book to be lectured. They want to be entertained.
Not every minute detail needs to be included. A simple fact can be conveyed without a long-winded dive into the history of a particular spell, laser gun, or potion.
Though this type of info dump is most common with sci-fi and speculative fiction, it’s also found in a range of other genres — a story must have a setting, and every setting offers the opportunity to world-build.
The task at hand isn’t as difficult if your protagonist is new to a particular world because the reader is being exposed to it through their eyes. They’re unfamiliar, so it makes sense that secondary characters would explain things to them, and your reader learns right alongside the protagonist.
If they are familiar, you’re facing a little more work. It doesn’t make sense for a resident in this world to sit back and allow another character to drown them in facts about the world in which they both live; they’d cut them off mid-sentence.
Example — Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone:
Harry is brand new to the wizarding world, and we learn all about it all with him. Hagrid doesn’t sit him down and explain all about Diagon Alley, the magical brick wall, and the land that lays behind it. He brings Harry there and we see it as action.
This is a perfect example of ‘show, don’t tell’. How flat and dull would the magical world have been coming from Hagrid instead of organically?
In the form of narrative, dialogue, or flashback, sandwich moments of ‘telling’ in between portions of ‘showing’ important information, and it should work.
If during your many re-reads and edits you find portions of info dumping, be aware that this often means the conflict has become so diluted that feelings of tension are non-existent, or that you’ve paused the conflict to inject some information.
You can’t pick up and drop conflict when you feel it’s appropriate and expect the reader to adjust to those rises and falls of the tension. — -
3. Info dumps as Detail
Writing a novel requires a tonne of research, and specificity in the details you include lends your story legitimacy. But as with all elements in writing, a balance must be found.
Example #1: Your protagonist might be a seasoned surgeon, on the precipice of a major breakthrough that will cure cancer, and you feel you have to explain the intricacies of the clinical trials that brought this cure to light.
Example #2: Or perhaps they’re a musical savant, proficient in many instruments, their home filled with manuscripts overflowing with handwritten compositions. You don’t want to wait, you need the reader to know now that your character’s life revolves around music, and what better way to do that than with a four-page enlightenment that will inevitably halt your story.
It can be hard to determine exactly what a reader does and doesn’t need to know. When you feel you’ve encountered an info dump, ask yourself: Does this information work to advance the plot?
In the case of the surgeon, the success of the trials can be woven into the plot, or the barest details offered in dialogue. Maybe the good doctor is at a conference and chats briefly with colleagues about the breakthroughs. The scene now serves a purpose outside of simply relaying that information.
Maybe the musician is giving a soon-to-be protégé a lesson, eager to share their knowledge, but intent on holding back to avoid overwhelming the beginner. You now have an excuse as to why you’re not oversharing, and you’ve opened up an opportunity to illustrate that information through a compelling relationship, instead of a double page spread on the history of classical music.
The restraint shown by both charactersproves that the information they choose to later share wasn’t important to the plot at that moment, or at least not in such detail.
Determine what is necessary in your novel and whittle it down to exactly what is warranted for that moment and no further.
4. Info Dumps as Dialogue
Information can be shared through dialogue deftly once you don’t fall into the trap of stilted, ‘As you know, Bob…’ dialogue.
This type of dialogue is there purely to convey information to the reader and involves one character telling another character something they already know.
Example:
“Linda, are you taking dad to the doctor?” Marie asked. “He has an appointment with the orthopaedic surgeon. She needs to look at his leg and see if there are improvements since his last appointment. Remember, from the time you ran over his foot backing down the driveway? It was a nasty break; his leg was in a cast for three months. The doctors think the damage is permanent.”
Linda rolled her eyes. “You always make me feel guilty about that. I was driving your car and the brakes stopped working because you hadn’t brought it in for an inspection for months because you couldn’t afford it after losing your job. It was a freak accident,” Linda replied.
Marie wouldn’t delve so deeply into the topic of their father’s injury because Linda, of course, is already aware. In turn, Linda wouldn’t feel the need to remind Marie about her job loss and failures in car maintenance.
It’s stilted, unnatural, and unlike normal, human conversation. This kind of dialogue is glaringly obvious to any reader. Sure, new information is being revealed about their father, his injury, and Linda’s guilt, but it’s done in an unrealistic way, adds no conflict, and enhances no tension.
If this information is important, find somewhere else to slot it in where it really matters.
Fixed:
“Which one of us is taking dad to the doctor? He’s ready now, but he thinks he’s going to be late,” Marie asked.
Linda glared at her sister sharply. “I don’t think he wants to be in any kind of vehicle with me. You’d better take him.”
“You’re being paranoid. Anyway, I always drop him off. Bit unfair, considering…” Marie trailed off, chancing a not-so-innocent look in Linda’s direction.
“Fine, I’ll bring him.” Linda grabbed her keys, forcing her hand tightly around them to hide the slight tremble. “Wish us luck,” she shouted as she left, the mock humour in her voice barely clouding her apprehension.
Again, my prose won’t be winning any awards, but at least the scene has a point now. What’s wrong with their father? Why does he need a doctor? It obviously has something to do with Linda and a car — did she run over her dad!?
Questions are being asked here, whereas none come to mind with the original ‘Bob’ example above. The moment a writer uses dialogue in this way is the moment it becomes “As you know, Bob…” dialogue.
Avoiding Info Dumps
If you need to convey information without unleashing an avalanche of detail on the reader, you can follow these guidelines –
Anchor the Reader in Your Story
Instead of rattling off a list of facts, create a scene around this list and warrant the inclusion of the information. Anchor a scene by helping the reader visualise what your protagonist is doing, and where, when, and why they’re doing it.
Offer a setting to enable the reader to better view the scene as a scene rather than a laundry list of facts, descriptions, events. But always ensure that it’s has earned its place in the story and drives the plot forward.
If it’s been manufactured purely to convey the information and could be pulled from your manuscript without affecting the plot or story flow, it doesn’t belong.
Be Specific
Info dumping means presenting a lot of unnecessary information, so look out for scenes that are excessively long or bogged down in extraneous detail.
Be specific and particular with the details you choose to share. Specificity is describing the clock on the wall as “old and masquerading as an antique, its cheap paint chipped around the edges”.
An info dump would be a detailed retelling of the type of clock, the history of that particular type, the mechanics of clockwork, etc.
Give the Scene Purpose
Say you want to let the reader know that Alice has been betrayed by friends and family so much that she rarely lets anyone get close to her.
Instead of a list of times Alice felt the sting of betrayal, each as painful as the next, create a scene around it. Anchor the scene, show the reader where Alice is and what she’s doing there.
Give the scene a purpose. Maybe Alice is packing up after work, getting ready to head home and a colleague approaches to ask if she’d like to join them for drinks.
Alice, in her vulnerable state, is immediately distrustful and refuses, assuming an agenda is at play.
Here, Alice’s reaction is shown through dialogue rather than a long list of treacheries.
Now the reader is questioning the reason for Alice’s outburst instead of drowning in memories and detail. A brief but powerful reflection by Alice on an instance of broken trust might be enough to entice the reader to continue, eager to learn about Alice’s hardships.
Inform the reader through a balance of narrative, dialogue, and action. If you find yourself at a loss when reviewing your novel, simply ask yourself why you placed that information there, in that paragraph, scene, or chapter.
Why do you think it earned its place there? Why does the reader need to know that piece of information at that specific time?
If you can’t find a solid answer — a reason to justify its presence — review each instance of suspected info dumping and work to weave the pertinent bits into the story and cuts what doesn’t belong.
