Comments on: Info Dumps Suck http://bethestory.com/2006/02/04/info-dumps-suck the blog about writing stories and being a better writer Wed, 03 Dec 2008 22:35:24 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.1 By: J. Timothy King http://bethestory.com/2006/02/04/info-dumps-suck#comment-65 J. Timothy King Tue, 07 Feb 2006 18:14:20 +0000 http://bethestory.com/2006/02/04/info-dumps-suck#comment-65 Hi, Mur. The novel I'm reading right now is doing something similar. He keeps going into these paragraph-long artsy scenes that would make great visuals in a movie but about which I really don't care. (It's <em>March of the Penguins</em> all over again.) Then when he describes something I do care about, I can't figure out what he's talking about. Too much wordsmith, not enough storyteller. Why doesn't he just tell me, in plain English, what I need to know, all of what I need to know, and only what I need to know? Sheesh! You didn't know about "be the story" because I didn't market it effectively. (In other words, it's my fault, not yours.) The blog/podcast is still very young, and I've been really encouraged by the people who have written me about it already. Still, this week is the first in which I really feel good about rewriting the "about" page, recording a promo, and going on a marketing blitz. Stay tuned. -TimK Hi, Mur. The novel I’m reading right now is doing something similar. He keeps going into these paragraph-long artsy scenes that would make great visuals in a movie but about which I really don’t care. (It’s March of the Penguins all over again.) Then when he describes something I do care about, I can’t figure out what he’s talking about. Too much wordsmith, not enough storyteller. Why doesn’t he just tell me, in plain English, what I need to know, all of what I need to know, and only what I need to know? Sheesh!

You didn’t know about “be the story” because I didn’t market it effectively. (In other words, it’s my fault, not yours.) The blog/podcast is still very young, and I’ve been really encouraged by the people who have written me about it already. Still, this week is the first in which I really feel good about rewriting the “about” page, recording a promo, and going on a marketing blitz. Stay tuned.

-TimK

]]> By: Mur http://bethestory.com/2006/02/04/info-dumps-suck#comment-64 Mur Tue, 07 Feb 2006 15:46:25 +0000 http://bethestory.com/2006/02/04/info-dumps-suck#comment-64 Woot- I'm not alone! I've always felt like the only person who could see a glaring, boring flaw with Snow Crash. Sure, the samurai bits were cool, and YT was awesome, and even the long bits of detail on her mom's workplace politics were amusing. But if the Librarian had suffered system failure after the first page of exposition, I would have enjoyed the book a lot more. I didn't know you had a podcast! How did I miss that? I'll definitely take a listen. Woot- I’m not alone! I’ve always felt like the only person who could see a glaring, boring flaw with Snow Crash. Sure, the samurai bits were cool, and YT was awesome, and even the long bits of detail on her mom’s workplace politics were amusing. But if the Librarian had suffered system failure after the first page of exposition, I would have enjoyed the book a lot more.

I didn’t know you had a podcast! How did I miss that? I’ll definitely take a listen.

]]> By: be the story » Pulling Us Into Your World http://bethestory.com/2006/02/04/info-dumps-suck#comment-62 be the story » Pulling Us Into Your World Mon, 06 Feb 2006 09:45:30 +0000 http://bethestory.com/2006/02/04/info-dumps-suck#comment-62 [...] Info Dumps Suck [...] […] Info Dumps Suck […]

]]> By: J. Timothy King http://bethestory.com/2006/02/04/info-dumps-suck#comment-61 J. Timothy King Sun, 05 Feb 2006 23:02:17 +0000 http://bethestory.com/2006/02/04/info-dumps-suck#comment-61 Hi, Joe. For me, this was timely in that that it's one of the topics in my podcast this week (February 6). It is true that a writer can obey the rules, and some people won't like the story. And he can break the rules, and some will still like the story. Now, I haven't read <em>Snow Crash</em>, so I can only comment on dumps in general. You have to understand that for someone like me, the whole experience is about the story. And anything that interrupts the flow of the story, as an info dump is prone to do, is going to tick me off no matter how interesting the topic of the dump is. Ironically, this also means I can ignore some story elements that are poorly conceived, like plot clichés in a character-driven story, because the focus is not on those story elements. I also forgot to mention— Boy am I saying that a lot lately. I forgot the mention that the original discussion (MP3), on Neal Stephenson’s <em>Snow Crash</em>, that spawned this whole thread is at <a href="http://www.kickassmysticninjas.com/2006/01/31/kamn-show-7-snow-crash/" rel="nofollow">http://www.kickassmysticninjas.com/2006/01/31/kamn-show-7-snow-crash/</a>. -TimK Hi, Joe. For me, this was timely in that that it’s one of the topics in my podcast this week (February 6).

It is true that a writer can obey the rules, and some people won’t like the story. And he can break the rules, and some will still like the story. Now, I haven’t read Snow Crash, so I can only comment on dumps in general. You have to understand that for someone like me, the whole experience is about the story. And anything that interrupts the flow of the story, as an info dump is prone to do, is going to tick me off no matter how interesting the topic of the dump is.

Ironically, this also means I can ignore some story elements that are poorly conceived, like plot clichés in a character-driven story, because the focus is not on those story elements.

I also forgot to mention— Boy am I saying that a lot lately. I forgot the mention that the original discussion (MP3), on Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash, that spawned this whole thread is at http://www.kickassmysticninjas.com/2006/01/31/kamn-show-7-snow-crash/.

-TimK

]]> By: Joe http://bethestory.com/2006/02/04/info-dumps-suck#comment-59 Joe Sun, 05 Feb 2006 13:35:28 +0000 http://bethestory.com/2006/02/04/info-dumps-suck#comment-59 Wow, our little podcast insighting so much discussion. I normally agree that infodumps are the kiss of death to good storytelling, but like I said in the show, since one of the topics of the info dump in Snow Crash was a personal interest of mine (Goddess worship) I didn't mind so much. I just downloaded your podcast, and I'm enjoying it very much. I'd like to hear more on your idea that character's names don't matter, as that is also a topic I'm fascinated by, as I think naming things and people is an essential aspect of sci-fi and fantasy. Catch you later. Wow, our little podcast insighting so much discussion. I normally agree that infodumps are the kiss of death to good storytelling, but like I said in the show, since one of the topics of the info dump in Snow Crash was a personal interest of mine (Goddess worship) I didn’t mind so much.

I just downloaded your podcast, and I’m enjoying it very much. I’d like to hear more on your idea that character’s names don’t matter, as that is also a topic I’m fascinated by, as I think naming things and people is an essential aspect of sci-fi and fantasy.

Catch you later.

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