Hello, all! Fresh fish but I promise, no one-as far as my checking has gone-has asked this one in this forum. If it's in other forums then I shall humbly ask to be redirected.
Right.
I have a fantasy I already know will be a series. The other two books of the series are already outlines with a touch of WIPing. Now, my first one is in the 120K+ range and it has a lot of info dumps integral to the story. There are multiple mains in the series overall but I have only introduced a few in the first and planned the rest for the other books. Since I have joined this forum, I seen the evil of info dumps and am now wondering if writing what might appear to be mini stories would be a lesser evil. See, my main characters come from all over the map. My original idea was to have a bit of story hopping to introduce them until my main finds them. Currently, my world is complex, with rules and ways foreign to my first main who is pulling the story forward...and unfortunately dragging it out.
Now, this is what I want to do. I see my main plot interwoven with my other characters' tales as a way to move through time, SHOW instead of DUMP information to build tension and add depth as well as bring those characters out from the gates instead of simply finding them like a treasure hunt. The downside of this is the fact that, but for one character, none of these separate main characters will meet in book one. I am arguing with myself on this because I don't want it to appear as if I'm piecing short stories together. I think, if I can do it right, I can make the reader become invested with each of these main characters. Done right, I can leave the readers with this omnious feeling that something big is going to happen in this world and these characters they're hearing about are the catalysts.
What do you think, kiss of death, huge if-you-can-pull-it-off or...?
Right.
I have a fantasy I already know will be a series. The other two books of the series are already outlines with a touch of WIPing. Now, my first one is in the 120K+ range and it has a lot of info dumps integral to the story. There are multiple mains in the series overall but I have only introduced a few in the first and planned the rest for the other books. Since I have joined this forum, I seen the evil of info dumps and am now wondering if writing what might appear to be mini stories would be a lesser evil. See, my main characters come from all over the map. My original idea was to have a bit of story hopping to introduce them until my main finds them. Currently, my world is complex, with rules and ways foreign to my first main who is pulling the story forward...and unfortunately dragging it out.
Now, this is what I want to do. I see my main plot interwoven with my other characters' tales as a way to move through time, SHOW instead of DUMP information to build tension and add depth as well as bring those characters out from the gates instead of simply finding them like a treasure hunt. The downside of this is the fact that, but for one character, none of these separate main characters will meet in book one. I am arguing with myself on this because I don't want it to appear as if I'm piecing short stories together. I think, if I can do it right, I can make the reader become invested with each of these main characters. Done right, I can leave the readers with this omnious feeling that something big is going to happen in this world and these characters they're hearing about are the catalysts.
What do you think, kiss of death, huge if-you-can-pull-it-off or...?