: Re: How do I avoid a “mid-story info dump?” I am revising the manuscript for a novel. About a third into the story, a major turning point occurs when the main character (through whom the reader

@Radia543

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The point is all novels require info dumps, but you as the author has to find a way of putting across the information as entertainly as possible. To do it entirely as narration is a major fail. Consider the Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham. He had to put about three major info dumps in that novel. In one he used a flashback to get across the origin of the Triffids, but by starting the novel with his protagonist waking up to a blind chaotic London was a master stroke. Because the reader was engaged in a dystopian nightmare already and the info dump allowed a breather knowing action was further ahead. in another info dump he used the device of a meeting. This way the info comes out in a conversation (dialogue), so it is more easily digested. Also he could put non-info dump snippets of dialogue to keep things interesting. I feel he achieved this by introducing the assertion that women would have to take multiple husbands (or was it the other way around?).

Perhaps your protagonist could have at least some dialogue with a pet if no humans are available/possible. Also you could have her introspection occurring amid other action (while she is being tortured as a result of the person she 'fell' for). If any info dump requires more than 20 solid pages then you are not writing a novel, are you? So let's say you have to do 8 pages of info (which is massive). I would say write a chapter of 16 pages and make 8 pages interesting and non-info dump. Also remember the info dump should be interesting to the reader if it relates to the story, what has gone, but more importantly, what as a result of the info dump will follow.

I am tackling an info dump problem right now near the end of a first book in a series of 6 books (which 3 books have been written and the rest planned out as a draft). that is why I arrived at this blog! I have about 16 pages of conversation to put this info across, which I realise is too much. I have my protagonist talking to an Angel (Silicon-based life form with a carbon-based brain). This angel is putting across the beliefs and politics of his race (some of which believe in Angels of Light; ie, angels as in created by God). My angel is an atheist but he has to deal with the Religious Angels all in an effort to join my protagonist in an impending fight against a creature threatening the Multiverse. You can imagine the the info dump required as this is the protagonist's first meeting with an angel. I did do what other bloggers in this problem set suggested. I have already put related info at 4 points earlier in the novel, which on their own seemed reasonable to mention.

But I still need to break up my conversation of these 16 pages. What I've done is split the 16 into two chapters of 8. This means I aim to do say 14-16 pages per chapter with only 8 pages having the info dump. I aim to do this by introducing action amid the info dump. I will approximately use the 8-point arc: Stasis; Trigger; Surprise; Critical Choice; Reversal; Resolution as a sub-plot.

I hope this info might trigger something useful (even if it was a bit of an info dump in itself!).

Cheers,

Tom

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