THE Group for Authors! discussion

So I'm wondering how you do it. How do you manage to reveal a ton of information without actually just telling a ton of information?

Right now I have a section I'm writing, where I'm trying to reveal some bombshell knowledge about something that happened in the past. So far I've gone the dialogue/confession route... although I would like to be more creative with this.

Because to be honest, the more I do this the more I feel confessing everything just screams Scooby-doo, and I feel the last line should be "And I would have gotten away with it too if it weren't for you meddling kids!"

Or do we love the cliches? :) Do we love confessional tell-alls? Do we love info-dumps?

Thoughts?

As a reader, it's fun when information is revealed in a flashback, especially if it's been foreshadowed earlier in the book. I call this "the Aha! moment".

Or you can have the person making the confession write a letter, and let the information be revealed when the letter is read. Or there's always the character who has a sixth sense that something is not as it appears, and who starts asking nosy questions...

Does that help? :-)

Bombshell revelations don't usually require a data dump.

Just revealing that Luke and Leia are siblings or that the bride is actually and alien can be just a single sentence.

The rest of the details can follow in logical order and over as long a period of time as the author wants.

V.W. wrote: "Bombshell revelations don't usually require a data dump.

Just revealing that Luke and Leia are siblings or that the bride is actually and alien can be just a single sentence.

The rest of the de..."

Maybe I mis-categorized revelation with backstory to the revelation.

Jennifer (Sad Books Say So Much) wrote: "As a reader, it's fun when information is revealed in a flashback, especially if it's been foreshadowed earlier in the book. I call this "the Aha! moment".

Or you can have the person making the co..."

Oh yes that does help. I actually am using flashbacks too but from what I hear, one has to be careful with those too. But that people like them is good to know.

Thanks!

Best of luck to you with your writing :-)

There's a standard answer and a sneaky answer.

The standard answer first - you dribble out the back story over a period of time. Watch Terminator and see how Kyle Reese gives much of the background information during car chases or police interrogations. Or read Harry Potter and notice how JK Rowling slowly drip feeds us with information about magic and Hogwarts and Voldermort.

There's a lot of good standard stuff you can use. Flashbacks. Exposition characters. Letters. Telephone calls. Mission briefings, like M telling Bond who the bad guy is.

One good technique is to have a Dr Watson type character who has to have things explained to him or her. That's why a lot of fiction (especially science fiction) has someone from the present day somehow whisked into an alien world. Think Jake Sully from Avatar, Luke Skywalker, Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon, Harry Potter, Frodo and Bilbo, Gulliver from Gulliver's Travels ...

That way the naive character can act as the reader's proxy as everyone has to explain things to him/her.

One problem to avoid is the "As you know, Bob ..." dialogue where someone tells someone else something that they really ought to know. "Are there you are, my son, King of the lizard people and hero of the battle of Dubbledim. How goes your marriage to Queen Tay, she of the Huddlestone clan who live in the magical kingdom of ....?"

That's the standard answer. You'll find techniques like that in all good books about writing.

Now for the sneaky answer ... don't reveal all the information. No, really. The reader almost certainly doesn't need to know it all. They will take much of it on trust. Leave gaps for the reader to fill with their imagination, because a reader's imagination is far more powerful than anything we could write.

How does a light sabre work? Or Gandalf's magic staff? Or the engine in my car? I haven't the first clue, and I really don't need to know. Leave that stuff in your notes and spend precious novel time on character and plot. Excite me, don't educate me.

I know, I know, I know. You've spent a long time working out this information and it seems such a shame not to use it. Trust me on this one. Unless you are writing in a genre where that sort of detail matters, feel free to leave it out. Give the backstory only when and if it is needed for the plot.

I think Will makes a good point. Even in science fiction, where world building absolutely requires dropping information into the story, leaving some things to the reader's imagination is a great way to build interest. You might want to ask yourself, "why don't we see more illustrations of the marvelous aliens in sf?" Because the reader's imagination is more powerful, and the illustration may not be what the reader imagines and therefore puts the reader off.
Very often, less is more.

This is such great information, Will. I think one of my favorite comments from a reader was, "But what happens next? Does her family end up back together?" I left some of the story to the reader's imagination. For me, it meant that the reader enjoyed the book. A nice compliment.

I believe that we are talking about art. You don't actually know how the story's data is going to be received. But if you put your story aside for a month and find upon re-reading it that your data dump sucks, you have to get rid of it. I shelved a friend's historical novel because I couldn't stand the history lesson in the first couple of chapters. I read the Revenant in spite of finding it pedantic. The author included three biographical sketches. One of the sketches wouldn't have been missed at all and 80 to 90 percent of the material in the other two should have been left on the cutting room floor. On the other hand, Lee White's "Enemy" contains a couple of data dumps that I thought worked perfectly. Jack Reacher and his brother relate the family history during a conversation that takes place on a flight to France for a visit with Jack's dying mother. Later, Lee gives a discourse on side arms that I found fascinating but mostly irrelevant. I am sure there are many readers who disagree with my assessment.
You have to provide data. I have been criticized for providing too much (details about the evils of nuclear waste) and not enough (lack of backstory on my characters). I am listening even though I don't agree with everything I hear. The secrets seem to be providing the data in an interesting way and refraining from saying too much. Also remember that critics read at least some of what your wrote.

Edward Rutherfurd could make use of your advice, Joe. I've read Paris, and tried very hard to read London, but his books are so bloody pedantic! I pride myself on being a lifelong learner, but I do not need or want to be preached to in a work of fiction! Let the characters tell us the history.

Ideally you want to distribute the info dump in situations where it makes sense, but sometimes you NEED the information, as a reader, to comprehend what's happening. Of course this doesn't always mean info is released. Samuel Delany's books are famous for keeping you in the dark as the story evolves.

We find what works for us. Edit, keep it tight. Read Michener.

Melissa wrote: "So I'm wondering how you do it. How do you manage to reveal a ton of information without actually just telling a ton of information?

Right now I have a section I'm writing, where I'm trying to re..."

Your characters think. They can experience something that reminds them of said information. A conversation can spur reflection. You can do a flashback, or perhaps have a character watch vintage footage of an event.

Melissa wrote: "So I'm wondering how you do it. How do you manage to reveal a ton of information without actually just telling a ton of information?

Right now I have a section I'm writing, where I'm trying to re..."

Melissa,

There are books written by well-established published authors and conceptual editors, available in most public libraries, that address the various writing techniques and narration styles that may be utilized to address the dilemma for which you are seeking advice.

Public libraries, community colleges and literary websites often feature lectures, classes and informal discussion groups, at little or no cost, featuring authors, professional editors and educators who have achieved some degree of notoriety within the literary field.

You may wish to take advantage of such opportunities to resolve not only this challenge, but others you have encountered or may encounter in the future while writing. The best way to obtain expert advice is to seek it from experts within a specific field.

Melissa wrote: "So I'm wondering how you do it. How do you manage to reveal a ton of information without actually just telling a ton of information?

Right now I have a section I'm writing, where I'm trying to re..."

This is all excellent advice. I would add a couple comments:
1. Always engage your reader in the story, by keeping the writing tight and allowing the reader to add their own details.
2. If you have to write backstory - make it your best writing - interesting, engaging, and NEVER boring.

Nick wrote: "Melissa wrote: "So I'm wondering how you do it. How do you manage to reveal a ton of information without actually just telling a ton of information?

Right now I have a section I'm writing, where ..."

Follow the rule of thumb "Show not Tell" wherever you can. Turn it into a scene. Sometimes you can't, so take the advise of all the other folks responding to you. Best to you!

I remember reading an interview with Mark Rylance (acclaimed British actor) and he was asked how he had managed to convey so much in his facial expressions. His reply was that the writer of Wolf Hall, Hilary Mantel (also much acclaimed as you probably know), had the character he was playing, Thomas Cromwell, respond to a question he'd been asked, but in the book (he said 6 pages later) Thomas Cromwell had so many thoughts going through his mind, that it was her writing that gave him the reason to portray his thoughts.

In those thoughts could be info and all sorts.

What I'm saying is that it can be a very good place to put your information - in between a character being asked a question and the character answering it.

The reason I remember this is that it was absolutely fascinating to watch an actor barely move a facial muscle yet convey so much.

I think I'll steer clear of 6 pages of thoughts though.

Say what you have to say as succinctly as possible. After you have made your point, stop! Anything that comes after will be superfluous.

An instructor at a writing workshop suggested I keep slugs of backstory to three or four sentences at a time. It sounded like good advice to me.

Will wrote: "There's a standard answer and a sneaky answer.

The standard answer first - you dribble out the back story over a period of time. Watch Terminator and see how Kyle Reese gives much of the backgroun..."
Sneaky and thought provoking. You always have good advice WIll.