There is an old writing adage that simply states “Show – don’t tell.” When I was a beginning author, this advice always seemed strange to me. How do you show something in writing? In essence, prose is the art of telling. I’d pondered this quandary for many nights and never reached a satisfactory conclusion. Since I had not been given this advice directly, I could never ask for clarification. 

So I wrote and experimented and went about my life. It wasn’t until much later in my writing career that I began to understand this adage. And a lot of my understanding derived from editing other people’s work. See, part of my own writing struggles was that I lacked things like this very blog. I learned from trying on my own. I don’t bring attention to my self-taught skills to be boastful. On the contrary, I spent more time inventing the wheel when I could have simply been shown the round damn thing early on so I could focus on other techniques.

But one of the few pitfalls I managed to avoid fairly early is the dreaded Info Dump. This style of expository prose is a pretty big writing no-no. But it can be something that isn’t the easiest to properly define. Readers know when an info dump is happening but a writer might be struggling with wondering how to communicate the information inside the dump without it being such a slog for the reader. 

And that’s really the crux of the issue of the info dump. It’s not enjoyable to read. It’s like you’re gripped by the narrative when the story slams on the brakes in order to crack open an encyclopedia to list off a bevy of bland, flairless facts. Which, I get it. Providing context, especially in speculative fiction where you truly can’t rely on your reader having an intuitive understanding of how your world works, is difficult. When fantasy worlds are built around novel magics and systems, you know you need to convey a basic foundation so your reader can understand what your characters are talking about.

Least, of course, your characters end up literally telling the info dump in robotic dialogue! 

But where does the line between info dumping and world building get drawn? And how can you tell if you’ve provided too much context or too little? Readers hate when things are left vague, details consciously or accidentally omitted. And, as I mentioned at the start, I don’t have any hard answers. I learned from feeling it out myself and, as unhelpful as it is, a fair amount of that will come down to editing and finding on your re-reads where description drags too much or the situation is far too vaguely defined. Part of this will be dependent on the genre and expectations for your novel. 

However, I didn’t start this blog to leave you aspiring authors helpless. One trick I’ve learned is to interweave your context and descriptions into the action. I’ve mentioned before that dialogue itself is an action technique that provides interest and energy to your prose. There is no reason that context and world building can’t be the same.

My key advice is this: don’t break away from the your characters to drop paragraphs of text that does not involve them. If you have important information, try to work it into interactions between the characters in your story. Don’t have any of them “retreat into their head” to reminisce or think about the context you’re providing. Instead, work those details in using a manner that allows your characters to act and react to this information. 

This give and take action will add dynamism to the passage. You can then shade the information from each character’s perspective, adding colour and layer to those details. Not everyone will view a subject the same way, after all. Their own feelings can change the veracity of the world details you are providing. And nothing gives you more opportunity for character interaction than someone being wrong about their opinions! Correcting or arguing with them over those very details will give you ample opportunity to express to the reader the really important facets of the topic which you want to make public knowledge.

And your reader won’t even realise that they’re basically just getting a history, science, natural philosophy or technology lecture. 

So when you’re looking to flesh out important contextual information for your reader, ask yourself:

Does the presentation of this information break from the general flow of the passage? 

Am I retreating from the current action into a memory or character’s internal thoughts?

Can I present this information that will allow my characters to act on it? Or react to it?