Happy Cinco De Mayo! Or Revenge of The Fifth if you like Star Wars. Today, I thought I’d go back to my old writing roots, instead of spouting about current things going on in my personal life. Although info dumping which is the blog topic for today hits close to home. Now, we all know someone who doesn’t stop talking and giving unsolicited facts about some random subject. Being on the autism spectrum, I’ve done my fair share of info dumping. Whether it’s about animals, sports, or creative writing, I’ve committed this sin in both written format and verbal format. Now let’s talk about why info dumping is bad in writing.
Don't Dump On The Reader!
Now info dumping is something you want to avoid when telling stories for two reasons. Firstly, you’re breaking the first rule of writing; show don’t tell. When you’re telling instead of showing, the reader will feel insulted because you’re basically saying they can’t visualize what’s happening for themselves. Secondly, info dumping makes your book seem more like a textbook instead of a story and possibly bore the reader. People want to get to know your characters and relate to them. It’s hard to that when there’s little dialogue and your giving useless facts that can be brought up later or never. I’m still learning this both personally and professionally, but it’s never too late to get better.