Letting the reader figure out the backstory

[lexxi]

Instead of veering off topic in the Holding the Reader's Hand or Favorite Lines You've Written threads, I figured I'd start a new one.

Here is what's currently the third paragraph in my work in progress:

Danny -- Danny Roeder! yes, the guy I'd once written a term paper about for Twentieth Century Avant-Gardes -- slouched on my right, doing the New York Times crossword by penlight and listening to Philip Glass on his iPod except when I nudged him to look up at the next cue.
I like this because I think that one expository phrase set off by the dashes allows the reader to figure out quite a bit about Danny and about the narrator for less than 20 words. I wish I could be that economical all the time.

Do you have examples from your own work or from books you've read that you think do even better at giving readers clues to put together what they need to know, without spoon feeding or info dumping?

[The Lonely One]

I think the more fatigued I am from the day, the more I tend to get lazy and info dump without even noticing. When I'm completely in the zone I cherish that shit, because even if it will become even better, it's the bits I emulate when I'm not feeling it.

[Karen Duvall]

This is from my first chapter. Henry is the POV character.

This wasn't just an act of bigotry. The cop behaved as though he'd been given a mission and Henry was it. Come to think of it, he wouldn't put it past his ex-partner in crime, Jasper Clark, to bribe a cop. Out of hundreds of Hellspawn in New York City, why pick on Henry? Because Jasper held one hell of a grudge.

[ccv707]

The expository phrase you use in that sentence is distracting from the story. Unless you yourself are the narrator of the story, you should never insert yourself into it. The way you wrote it, it's as if the narrator is stepping back from the story and going "Remember this?!?" before going back into the story and continuing on.

You can leave most things implied. It's all about showing and not telling. Instead of telling us that the MC is a gruff, psychologically scarred, no-nonsense cop, SHOW us. Use dialogue, nervous ticks, reactions to others, and so forth.

[ccarver30]

I kind of made this reply in the other thread, but it made me look again. :)

I have subtle lines about my MC being able to deliver a hearty punch, a scar near his hip and scars on his knuckles. Later on I will reveal that he used to be a champion in an underground fighting ring... after getting kicked out of the army. Not exactly exemplary behavior from the brother of an earl.