So here I am, typing away. Because this is young adult fantsay, the style is one I haven't worked with for a while. I'm at the scene where the wise mentor explains the new world to the poor lost teen boy. This is when two consecutive chapters start with the phrase "When he woke up." He gets knocked unconciouss twice and wakes up each time to have yet another converstaion with the mentor. I use the dialogue to explain the world, because I'm a dialogue whore and I do it well, except now I'm doing too much. It's an info dump. I almost started chapter three with "when he woke up." I managed to stop myself. The thing is, I feel that the info is nessesary right in the beginning and there is so much. Is dialogue the best way to do this? Can info dumps ever be interestng enough to work well? Experienced writer's, come to my aid!
A Minor Complication
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I think it would be more interesting to have poor lost teen boy discover the new world on his own. Just my thought.
I agree with nevada.
Does the wise old mentor HAVE to tell him? Wouldn't it be fun to make him fumble things for a while until he starts to fumble less?
Then you don't need waking up.
Anyway, I tend to skip waking up, unless the scene starts right in the morning by necessity. So I've only done it a few times ever.
Does the wise old mentor HAVE to tell him? Wouldn't it be fun to make him fumble things for a while until he starts to fumble less?
Then you don't need waking up.
Anyway, I tend to skip waking up, unless the scene starts right in the morning by necessity. So I've only done it a few times ever.
As far as the infodump goes...
Either write it and cut it later or don't write it at all. You don't need to give your readers a history book (or any textbook) for them to accept the world you have created. Key details and key--brief--background will achieve the same result more efficiently.
When I say brief background, I mean just a little note here or there that is totally necessary for the plot to move forward. If the readers want to learn more about your world, they'll keep reading. Of course, you can be TOO vague and leave them confused and disinterested...but I figure you're smart, you can do it.
Either write it and cut it later or don't write it at all. You don't need to give your readers a history book (or any textbook) for them to accept the world you have created. Key details and key--brief--background will achieve the same result more efficiently.
When I say brief background, I mean just a little note here or there that is totally necessary for the plot to move forward. If the readers want to learn more about your world, they'll keep reading. Of course, you can be TOO vague and leave them confused and disinterested...but I figure you're smart, you can do it.
When dialogue is long, break it up with the actions of the characters. What are they feeling? You can give the information that's needed and it will feel less "dumped" if it is broken down. I also agree with Nevada. Have your character see the world for himself and then the rest of the information can be given as to where he is or why he's there. Some of the information can also be given in doses through out the story where its absolutetly needed for the reader to know what's going on.
I've had this problem in my recently accepted story. My editor asked me to take some of the information out because I was giving too much away and not letting the reader guess at what's going on. It made sense.
Amber
I've had this problem in my recently accepted story. My editor asked me to take some of the information out because I was giving too much away and not letting the reader guess at what's going on. It made sense.
Amber
Shane Fitzsimmons
Banned
Too much dialogue can be a very bad thing. Given, I've read three pages of nothing but dialogue in the past, but it wasn't infodumping, it was all vital to driving the plot forward and it was interesting. But there eventually does come a point where you don't want to just watch people talking, and instead you want to see them actually doing something.
As far starting out multiple chapters with the same sentence, or even the same thing going on goes... eh.... If you're telling a story that deals with any sort of "doing it again" theme, anything from the second coming of Christ to deja vu, then you might be able to get away with it. But probably not in back-to-back chapters.
Honestly, you're better off letting the reader discover everything for himself. Infodumps, especially when it comes to setting, is the sign of a novice. Let the reader learn things for himself, on his own. You don't need to explain every little detail. I mean, if you were writing a modern story you wouldn't go through a great deal of detail explaining how a car works unless you were writing about a mechanic, and if somebody is just checking their email to see if they got their concert tickets, you're not going to go through the history of the internet, are you? Obviously not.
For the very same reason, you shouldn't infodump on things you just make up. It gives your world much more credibility when you just let things stand on their own merits. The important thing is that you know how they work, and that confidence will spill over into your novel.
As far starting out multiple chapters with the same sentence, or even the same thing going on goes... eh.... If you're telling a story that deals with any sort of "doing it again" theme, anything from the second coming of Christ to deja vu, then you might be able to get away with it. But probably not in back-to-back chapters.
Honestly, you're better off letting the reader discover everything for himself. Infodumps, especially when it comes to setting, is the sign of a novice. Let the reader learn things for himself, on his own. You don't need to explain every little detail. I mean, if you were writing a modern story you wouldn't go through a great deal of detail explaining how a car works unless you were writing about a mechanic, and if somebody is just checking their email to see if they got their concert tickets, you're not going to go through the history of the internet, are you? Obviously not.
For the very same reason, you shouldn't infodump on things you just make up. It gives your world much more credibility when you just let things stand on their own merits. The important thing is that you know how they work, and that confidence will spill over into your novel.
I agree that too much dialogue can be a bad thing, sometimes. But, if the characters and their dialogue are intriguing enough, it can be a great tool. Sometimes emotion can substitute for action.
I have one 3-4k long chapter that is, at it's core, a conversation between two MCs. I posted it on SYW, and got several responses, 99.9% positive, and none of them mentioned a thing about the dialogue being too long/drawn out/boring. Supposedly, they didn't really care, because it intrigued them.
Granted, this sounds like it will likely be infodumpish, so I'd be careful. Just saying, don't knock dialogue too much.
I also agree with those saying it would be interesting to see the character stumble through this new world and discover it himself. You can learn a great deal about a character by the way they react to their surroundings.
I have one 3-4k long chapter that is, at it's core, a conversation between two MCs. I posted it on SYW, and got several responses, 99.9% positive, and none of them mentioned a thing about the dialogue being too long/drawn out/boring. Supposedly, they didn't really care, because it intrigued them.
Granted, this sounds like it will likely be infodumpish, so I'd be careful. Just saying, don't knock dialogue too much.
I also agree with those saying it would be interesting to see the character stumble through this new world and discover it himself. You can learn a great deal about a character by the way they react to their surroundings.
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