"...Harlan Coben often opens with a philosopical commentary that leads into the problem the MC is going to face.
I've seen novels open with an inciting incident that does not involve the MC. Then the MC gets involved with the ramifications of the incident in chapter two.
An entertainingly written (not boring!) description of the situation/history/backstory can work, too. You have to make sure it IS entertaining."
So, I've been thinking about expository lumps (infodumps) lately...Hitchhiker's Guide wouldn't be the same without them (i.e. discussion of what the Encyc Galactica sez about alcohol, babelfish vs. non-existence of God, etc.), and DFW's diversions in his 'Infinite Jest' that go on for many pages about why video telephony ultimately failed are a riot...so this seems to hint at a fictional rule, that such infodumps have to be entertaining in order to get away with being infodumps. But what if your piece is more somber, like say Alistair Reynolds', and you have a researcher working on a problem, and he comes to a eurekic conclusion from all his expository, dry reading that you somehow *must* describe in the story in some detailed way. So do you...
1) seamlessly integrate his findings and conclusions in a dialogue he has with a colleague?
2) fast forward the story to a place where a newcomer to the research team has to be 'brought up to speed', and this newcomer is then briefed on the researcher's findings? Possibly make the briefer eccentric, so you can present it all humorously, and so adhere to the dictum that 'infodumps *must* be humorous' in order to work properly?
Or
3) just expositionally summarize his findings, from his own POV, as if it was all going on in his head (in other words, nakedly infodumping)
Are there some situations where you feel (non-humorous) infodumping to *some* degree is patently unavoidable?
posted
My one thought as I tried to read your post was: "this is what is wrong with infodumps." I'm afraid I found your post hard to follow. It rambled. I think I'll focus on your last sentence: "Are there some situations where you feel (non-humorous) infodumping to *some* degree is patently unavoidable?"
It's NEVER unavoidable. That is, you always have the choice to do something else. But if you ARE going to infodump, wait until you've established the character and the story, and work the info dump into a logical point of the narrative, hopefully so it seems like a natural outgrowth of dialog and/or action.
Infodumping can be done, but it should be done with skill. I would suggest never do it in your opening paragraph(s). At that point the reader does not yet care about your character and no one wants a "history" lesson with a milieu they don't know.
posted
In pirates of the caribean, there is a scene where capt jack and will are talking when jack is in prison. Capt jack gives this speech about capt barborassa and his crew of miscreants and the evil things they do. Supposedly johnny depp complained "you gave me exposition!!!" and then decided it was ok cause he got to say miscreants. At the time, I didn't think that scene was boring or info dumpy, even though the writers admit that its whole purpose was to give all this info needed later in the story. You've got to dump the info without your audience realizing it.
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posted
I certainly agree that 'infodumping' shouldn't be done, at all, as opening paragraphs of a work. You could even say that is why at least some prologues to novels don't really work, since the reader is invariably pelted with names, places, and situations she may not be able to readily decode, and which might not make that much sense unless half of the rest of the novel is already read and firmly understood, so that the reader can put the prologue into context.
I suppose what I was asking is, can you effectively 'tone down' an infodump by just inserting it as dialogue between/among developed characters?
Example:
-> Beginning scene/action sequence, in which MC and one or two other characters also receive some embellishment/development. Action sequence 'pauses' at a cliffhanger.
-> Background, inserted as dialogue exchanged in a flashback, keeping it light and humorous
-> Return to 1st action sequence, resolve conflict, end chapter
This is what I was planning for one of my novels, which is why I was asking. I'm sorry if my 1st post on this thread was a bit baffling.
posted
The operative part of the word is "dump." IMO The Hitchhiker's Guide did not infodump, as the information in its asides was presented in such a fashion as to not interrupt the pace and voice of the rest of the text. They were, in fact, part of the story.
An "infodump" represents a screeching halt in the narration, a pause during which the author inserts a dry series of statements, which may be important to the plot, but do not advance it effectively and do not maintain the tone of the story.
As for your specific question, you present the researcher's findings so that they are as important to the reader as they are to the researcher. And so that the reader knows why they are important. This is one of those places where there is no definitive "right" way to do it. (Although there are, arguably, several "wrong" ways.) Your solution will be unique to your story, and the same story in another writer's hands will have a different solution.
quote:Capt jack gives this speech about capt barborassa and his crew of miscreants and the evil things they do. Supposedly johnny depp complained "you gave me exposition!!!" and then decided it was ok cause he got to say miscreants. At the time, I didn't think that scene was boring or info dumpy, even though the writers admit that its whole purpose was to give all this info needed later in the story. You've got to dump the info without your audience realizing it.
I loved that...see, this is what I call 'metafiction'. Depp going out of his way, in essence 'stepping out of the dialogue' to comment on the infodumping. I love it!
posted
Your example of a researcher finding some eureka moment and needing to dump a lengthy, detailed explanation on the reader --
I'm thinking that you would need to find a way to communicate the excitement the researcher is feeling. The attitude conveyed by the wording of the narration is a large part of whether the info is boring or not. And you could find some way to present (attack) the info that makes it not dry facts but riveting looks at the possibilities.
Dry humor works as well.
So John, the physicist, discovers that a variable X is not a variable after all. Oh, gosh wow! Think of it, he says to himself. Time is a fixed quantity at twice light speed! Why that means that Susan and I could share one kiss well into the next century if we were on a ship traveling to Orion IV! We'd make the book of records...if it wass still around by the time we took a breath.
[This message has been edited by arriki (edited June 10, 2006).]
posted
Ever since I first heard, "infodump bad," I've been ambivalent. I *love* reading infodumps. I love it when Niven interrupts the story to explain the superconductor plague, or the Birthright Lottery. And Jack Vance's footnotes. I want to be successful enough I can get away with that. (And why shouldn't I, if they're as interesting as Vance's?)
So what's the difference? I'd say, I love relevant and interesting infodumps, and don't like the others. I do try to follow the rule of only dumping info that's needed in the story, when needed.
posted
Ooh...I *hated* Jack Vance's footnotes. I hated having to interrupt the action to scan the bottom of the page. I'd rather learn what I knew through the story itself---which, with Vance, was usually quite interesting---rather than read a footnote definition...
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