Writing Roots

S33E9 – Avoiding the Info Dump: The Villain Monologue

You’re nearing the end of the story. You need something to tie all of the threads together which you’ve woven through the pages. What better way to explain why everything happened than to have your villain say it?
There are lots of better ways. Trust us.
The villain monologue has long been a staple of action novels and spy stories. It’s a neat way to explain the motivation for everything the villain did, while giving an extra convenient opportunity for the hero to escape and save the day. Unfortunately, there’s usually a poor reason for it. Most of the time, it’s because of vanity. The villain just loves to hear themselves talk. Sometimes it’s hubris. They simply can’t be beaten. But it doesn’t work.
There are better ways to reveal important information without making your villain go into a monologue worthy of the hero in a Shakespearean tragedy.
First aired June 30, 2022.
The post S33E9 – Avoiding the Info Dump: The Villain Monologue appeared first on Writing Roots.

S33E8 – Avoiding the Info Dump: Within Dialogue

Just because you have a character say it doesn’t mean you’re actually avoiding exposition. In some ways, having a character share backstory information through dialogue can be more annoying than helpful. That’s not to say you should avoid it entirely. You should, however, be aware of the main three problems that come with info dumping in dialogue.
The first problem is that the person your character is speaking to already knows the information, or they don’t need it in that moment. The second problem is that it’s simply out of character. And the final problem is that your character is going into monologue status and talking entirely too much.
In this episode, Ley and Leigh break down ways to find when you’re going into dialogue exposition, and how to fix it so you still get the information across without boring or annoying your reader.
First aired June 27, 2022.
The post S33E8 – Avoiding the Info Dump: Within Dialogue appeared first on Writing Roots.

S33 Bonus – It’s Okay to Info Dump, If You Do It Right

There may come a time in your writing where you simply can’t avoid the exposition. Some piece of history may need to be explained, or you need to discuss the magic and what’s possible. The trick is to do it in such a way that makes the reader want it, which then helps them not even realize it’s an info dump.
When you need to explain some bit of the story, you should still keep it short. Keep it relevant. And most helpfully, make sure you’ve prompted the reader to question the topic before you ever need to explain it. In this bonus episode, we talk about the best practices for including necessary exposition without making your readers bored or annoyed.
First aired June 25, 2022.
Don’t forget we have a digital writing retreat coming up in July! Find all the details here.
The post S33 Bonus – It’s Okay to Info Dump, If You Do It Right appeared first on Writing Roots.

S33E7 – Avoiding the Info Dump: Backstory

Backstory is a wonderful thing that will help make your characters feel rich and developed. Authors need to at least know the important events that led a character to where they are when the story begins. Those pieces of history can help readers empathize with the plights of your characters. Too much of a good thing, though, is a terrible thing.
When it comes to backstory, introducing it in small doses is best. You don’t want to overwhelm the reader with paragraphs of flashbacks and reminiscence in middle of a story. More than likely, you probably think the reader needs to know more than they actually do in order to understand a character.
It’s also helpful to remember that sometimes the slow reveal of a character’s past is more interesting. It builds suspense and a sense of curiosity. We all like a little mystery, after all. Ley and Leigh discuss how best to share backstory without it becoming an information dump.
First aired June 23, 2022.
The post S33E7 – Avoiding the Info Dump: Backstory appeared first on Writing Roots.

S33E6 – Avoiding the Info Dump: Personalities and Descriptions

One of the fastest ways to pull a reader out of the narrative flow of your story is to inundate them with descriptions. This is especially the case when you do paragraph descriptions of the point-of-view character. No one wants an info dump of what a character looks like. Not unless it’s attached to emotion in some way.
This is where showing becomes incredibly important. If you’re trying to introduce your character, how they look, and how they are, you do so best through actions. You do so best through giving bite-sized pieces at a time. You may like cheesecake, but you don’t eat a whole cheesecake in one sitting. When you introduce the important pieces of your character’s personality, it’s best to do it slowly and consistently. Show us who they are. Don’t tell us.
In this episode, Leigh and Ley break down the best techniques for getting people to fall in love with your characters without overwhelming them with needless breakdowns.
First aired June 20, 2022.
The post S33E6 – Avoiding the Info Dump: Personalities and Descriptions appeared first on Writing Roots.

S33E5 – Avoiding the Info Dump: Character Abilities

Every character has skills. Every character learns new skills. The question is, how do we – as authors – show that? The reader needs to know that this character knows other languages, or can fight, or is the fastest crocheter in the west. Do we just give the fact a paragraph and move on?
Never. Instead, let it bleed into the character. Their words, their choices, their jokes, their enemies. Every facet of your character’s skills and growth are part of the journey, not something dropped into a paragraph we’ll soon forget. You must avoid the info dump.
Listen to this episode for advice and examples of how to best show the complexities and skills within the characters you’ve built.
First aired June 16, 2022.
The post S33E5 – Avoiding the Info Dump: Character Abilities appeared first on Writing Roots.

S33E4 – Avoiding the Info Dump: Magic Systems

When you’ve spent time and effort creating a magic system for your story, you naturally want people to know just how awesome it really is. The magic is, after all, one of the major elements that draws people into their love of the fantasy genre. Even if we’ve spent hours and hours crafting each piece, each spell, each category, the chances that the reader needs to know everything is incredibly low. And the chance they need to know it all at once is simply zero.
If your plot requires the use of magic for the solution, you definitely need to explain the magic, how and why it works, and what limitations the characters have while using it. There are ways to go about that in a way that doesn’t overwhelm the reader with a mass of information they’ll inevitably forget. You must avoid the info dump.
Listen to this episode for advice and examples of how to best show the wonderful magic system you’ve built.
First aired June 13, 2022.
The post S33E4 – Avoiding the Info Dump: Magic Systems appeared first on Writing Roots.

S33E3 – Avoiding the Info Dump: Your World’s Culture

It would be impossible to show every aspect of a culture within a story. Whether you’re representing a real culture or creating a fictional one, there are too many facets to fully display. You may be excited about it and want to show it to the world, but that leads you quickly into the trap of exposition and information dumping.
There are easy ways to show the beauty of your story’s cultures without boring the reader. It comes down to knowing what’s actually important. Hosts Leigh and Ley discuss the various tips and tricks in this episode.
First aired June 9, 2022.
The post S33E3 – Avoiding the Info Dump: Your World’s Culture appeared first on Writing Roots.

S33E2 – Avoiding the Info Dump: Your World’s History

The history of a world, especially when you’re writing science fiction and fantasy, tends to play a large part in the story overall. It is, after all, the history of the world that put the characters where they are when the story begins. Much like when discussing the political balance in your world, discussing its history is a dangerous path. New authors tend to want to explain it all up front so the reader knows everything.
Learning everything in one go, though, means the reader remembers none of it. That’s only one of the many reasons to avoid the information dump of history. Leak it in as pieces become relevant to the plot.
In this episode, we discuss tricks to help you avoid giving your readers a barrage of unnecessary information while still keeping track of all of it yourself.
First aired June 6, 2022.
The post S33E2 – Avoiding the Info Dump: Your World’s History appeared first on Writing Roots.

S33E1 – Avoiding the Info Dump: Your World’s Politics

Exposition – also known as information dumping – can drag a story down more effectively than any other form of bad writing. When you spend too much time explaining a detail to the reader, they are pulled from the story or lost in the mire of unnecessary details. It boils down to telling instead of showing the story.
One of the most common things to be explained in an info dump is the political structure of your world (especially if you’ve created your own world and politics tie into the story). It can be difficult to step back from this intricate thing you’ve created and really see what the reader needs to know. You may want them to know everything, but they don’t need all of that in order to understand the story.
There are tricks to explaining a political structure without needing to take paragraphs or pages of space to do it.
First aired June 2, 2022.
The post S33E1 – Avoiding the Info Dump: Your World’s Politics appeared first on Writing Roots.