People love to exchange stories. Stories provide a context for the events, feelings, ideas, and relationships that make up the fabric of our lives. When we describe an important experience to another person, we often shape it in the form of a story.

The same can be said about fiction. When we write stories, we want our readers to feel what is happening to our characters and visualize where the story is taking place. A good storyteller balances description with action, drawing their readers effortlessly into  the story. This four part series is designed to help you make the most of the powers of storytelling.

Info Dumps and How To Recognize Them

What are info dumps?

Taken directly from Google, an info dump is a big chunk of information that is 'dumped' in the reader's lap all at once. These info dumps are usually done through narration and exposition, but they can be found in dialogue as well.

Here are some ways you can tell if you've dumped info on your readers:

Dead Dumps: A dead dump is easy to identify because nothing within the text is happening right now. When a chunk of narrative is used to reflect on the past (backstory), describe a scene, or convey details about characters, it is not active. It is dead.

Boring Dumps: Readers want to be immersed in the moment of the story. They want to feel like they are standing beside your main character as exciting things happen around them. Don't drop a bunch of information on them all at once. It will feel like a lecture and it's boring.

Obvious Dumps: In general, info dumps draw attention to the writing. Sure, readers know they're reading a story, but they don't want to feel like it's a story. Info dumps tend to come across like an unnatural tangent by the author. It's like the director of a film stopping the movie to say, "Hey, wait a second. I want to explain something..."

Early Dumps: The story setup is notorious for lengthy info dumps. The closer to the beginning you dump heavy description, the more likely you are to annoy and lose your readers. Why? Because they are not yet invested in the story or characters and may not be willing to wade through the information you want to tell them. Prologues are often used as an excuse to info-dump. Again, information that is dumped on the reader this early is unlikely to be remembered later when it becomes relevant.

Navel-gazing: Excessive or useless self-contemplation by a character is not so much an info dump, but rather like a tangent that doesn't progress the story. While some internal ranting might be relevant in a middle grade or YA story where a lot of teenage angst is taking place, or if a character's nature is to exhibit extreme self-introspection. If there is no useful information being translated to the reader, it's best to keep navel-gazing to a bare minimum or leave it out completely. 

What are the exceptions?

There are narrative styles that can get away with some info dumping, such as...

Humor: If the info dump is funny and is in the context of a humorous novel, readers usually won't notice or mind.

Omniscient POV: An omniscient narrator with a great voice and interesting perspective can make info dumps a seamless part of the narration.

A Quirky Character: Peculiar characters are often part of the supporting cast and can be used to share information through an amusing voice or interesting personality trait. Like a talkative pre-schooler or an eccentric neighbor who tends to ramble.

Middle Grade Novels: Opening with an entertaining info dump is common in early middle grade stories because it helps orient young readers who aren't yet skilled at ascertaining implied character traits and back story.

Unique Delivery Methods: This involves the use of props, such as a letter from a forgotten relative, a newspaper article, a radio announcement, a TV broadcast, or a conversation with a psychic.

📌 PRO TIP: These creative techniques can be risky. You must execute them in a way that is clever and sandwiched within the context of an engaging scene to hide the fact that you're info dumping.

On to Part 2...