Today we’re talking about one of the most common mistakes new author’s make and that is the dreaded “info dump.”
I was on a panel at Killer Nashville, and one of the questions asked at the panel was, “What is the most common mistake new writers make?” I answered that I thought writing unlikeable characters badly had become a pretty common issue I’d been seeing. The other three authors, who were all way cooler and more experienced than me, answered: Info Dumping. So, you heard it from the experts.
What is info dumping, you ask? It’s when a writer tells instead of shows, effectively “dumping” (usually) character information or backstory on the reader instead of allowing readers to unravel said information in a more organic way. It’s super tempting, and if I hadn’t burned my first drafts of Chase Harlem or Outside Paradise, I would have plenty of examples of what not to do. I did, however, keep a second draft of Chase Harlem, and found a wonderful example of info dumping right there on page two! Let’s check out this writing crime scene:
My name is Joanna Chase Harlem. I’m a private investigator based in New Orleans, the Jazz capital of the world. My clients, colleagues, and people I find generally annoying call me Detective Harlem, my friends call me Chase, and my mama calls me Joanna. Nobody, absolutely nobody calls me Jo, Joey, Jojo, Jodi, Anne, Anna, or any other stupid nickname you might manage to extract from the name Joanna. I’ve shot people for less.
Notice how I spend sentences telling the reader about her distaste for nicknames rather than showing? It’s not the worst info dump (once upon a time this paragraph read like my main character’s resume), but it’s not great. It would be funnier to show her actually getting defensive about someone calling her a nickname. Also, it’s just not something my reader’s need to know about her on page two.
How did I fix this? Well, I deleted it. Then, I worked on description, focusing on describing the setting using the four senses, and it worked. I can’t post it here because reasons, but it worked.
So, how do we prevent this in our writing? The simple answer is practice and good editing. I know it’s tempting to tell the reader everything about your MC immediately because you want the reader to love that MC as much as you do, but let’s avoid that as much as possible. If there is something you feel the reader has to know about your character, write it down in a character journal and work it in organically.
That is my tip for today. Do you have any writing tips to share? What are common mistakes you find in your own writing?
A Couple of B's 