How do you give a lot of necessary world-building knowledge without info-dumps?


Home Page Forums Writer Help – a QnA for aspiring authors How do you give a lot of necessary world-building knowledge without info-dumps?

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    • #2401
      Bob Bobson
      Participant

      How do you give a lot of necessary world-building knowledge without info-dumps?

      I’ve got a plot that really hangs on understanding the intricacies of the setting. Without knowing any of that, the story would not make much sense. I hate info-dumping but there is a lot of stuff the reader needs to know.

    • #2402
      Burty Burtman
      Participant

      What is the absolute minimum a reader needs to know for chapter one?

      • #2403
        Bob Bobson
        Participant

        About two chapter’s worth of non-stop info dumps.

      • #2405
        Burty Burtman
        Participant

        About two chapter’s worth of non-stop info dumps.

        Well… Ouch.

        I dunno what to say to that.

        How much could you show or imply later so that a second reading is even better than the first?

    • #2413
      Matthew Brown
      Keymaster

      If you need to introduce that much background information before the plot proper can get underway then you need a narrative that can act both as character introduction and development whilst also being a tour of your world.

      From the sounds of what you are describing you first act (25%) is probably this easing in phase. Following an outside into the inside could act as an audience surrogate to pin your drip-fed information display to without it seeming like a dull old info-dump.

      TL;DR: Find a character you can begin with for whom no background understanding is needed.

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