It's a problem every single writer faces. Everyone. Really.
How much information should you divulge to the reader at once? Or: how much information is too much, and how little is too little? There's dangers to both: too much information at once can slow the reader down and become monotonous; too little will leave your reader utterly confused. You need to paint the picture of a world one color at a time, and even something like the genre can influence the amount of information you need to overall include in your narrative (for example, fantasy novels might require more information from the author to the reader than a gen fic/contemporary).
If you're still in the first draft of your novel, try not to worry about this too much; if anything, info-dumping in the first draft could just be your way of mentally sifting through (and then word-vomiting) anything you want to remember. No big deal.
But say you have all of your information, and now you're trying to figure out how to sprinkle it throughout instead of having a big lump of information in the middle of your novel. There's one simple question I like to ask when this happens: what does the reader need to know right at this very second?
Think about it. Is there anything that's pertinent to the reader right now? Maybe your character has a food allergy (to use a very simple example): does the reader really need to know that the character is allergic to peanuts while they're drinking their morning coffee? Wouldn't it be easier for everyone to have the character ask his/her best friend if there are peanuts in the brownies they baked for him/her instead? Or, to up the stakes: somebody purposely puts chopped peanuts in their pancakes to try and kill them. That's a good reason for the reader to know about the allergy. And those are the kinds of instances where that information becomes pertinent and important.
Did your character get a speeding ticket a few weeks back? Explain that only if your character/their parents/their friends are suddenly jabbing them about driving carefully. Not when they're sitting in math class.
Or, like many novels, say your character is just as new to a world as the reader is: consider keeping them on a need-to-know basis. Right now, I'm reading THE NAME OF THE STAR (Maureen Johnson), and it does a really great job at giving the main character, Rory, information about her new-found ghost-seeing abilities only as the information becomes pertinent. Which means she finds out about how one becomes a ghost-seeing person more than a few days before finding out how to get rid of ghosts. Granted, part of the plot is about the others like Rory trying to keep Rory out of the loop, but I highly recommend it as an excellent example of giving the reader the information they need, without overloading them.
If you keep that bolded question in mind when you're trying to spread your information about your novel, you should be in pretty cherry shape. Now, I'm not saying it'll help you solve all of your info-dumping problems, but it's a pretty good place to start. Look at your information, and ask: "Does the reader need to know this right now?" Because, sometimes, it might be able to wait.
Also consider something else: if you have a lot of information to be given to the reader at any particular moment, simply try to keep it natural. Bring it up in a conversation between multiple characters, or at least have it follow logical trains of thought (if you're revealing things through your narrative instead of dialogue).
And I'm leaving this at that before I let this post get too long. Just remember: don't drop all of your information all in one place; keep it out of your reader's reach for as long as you can without leaving them dazed and confused out in the rain.
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The best way to avoid an info-dump, as described by blogger @Rae_Slater: what does the reader need to know? (Click to Tweet)
Don't drop all of your information in one place, but don't confuse the reader. Avoiding the Info-Dump via @Rae_Slater (Click to Tweet)
Monday, January 5, 2015
Saturday, January 3, 2015
Tea Time: The Distance Between Lost and Found
ARC Review
**Warning: Spoilers May Abound**
The Distance Between Lost and Found, Kathryn Holmes
Ever since the night of the incident with Luke Willis, the preacher’s son, sophomore Hallelujah Calhoun has been silent. When the rumors swirled around school, she was silent. When her parents grounded her, she was silent. When her friends abandoned her … silent.
Now, six months later, on a youth group retreat in the Smoky Mountains, Hallie still can’t find a voice to answer the taunting. Shame and embarrassment haunt her, while Luke keeps coming up with new ways to humiliate her. Not even meeting Rachel, an outgoing newcomer who isn’t aware of her past, can pull Hallie out of her shell. Being on the defensive for so long has left her raw, and she doesn’t know who to trust.
On a group hike, the incessant bullying pushes Hallie to her limit. When Hallie, Rachel, and Hallie’s former friend Jonah get separated from the rest of the group, the situation quickly turns dire. Stranded in the wilderness, the three have no choice but to band together.
With past betrayals and harrowing obstacles in their way, Hallie fears they’ll never reach safety. Could speaking up about the night that changed everything close the distance between being lost and found? Or has she traveled too far to come back? (source:goodreads)
Now, six months later, on a youth group retreat in the Smoky Mountains, Hallie still can’t find a voice to answer the taunting. Shame and embarrassment haunt her, while Luke keeps coming up with new ways to humiliate her. Not even meeting Rachel, an outgoing newcomer who isn’t aware of her past, can pull Hallie out of her shell. Being on the defensive for so long has left her raw, and she doesn’t know who to trust.
On a group hike, the incessant bullying pushes Hallie to her limit. When Hallie, Rachel, and Hallie’s former friend Jonah get separated from the rest of the group, the situation quickly turns dire. Stranded in the wilderness, the three have no choice but to band together.
With past betrayals and harrowing obstacles in their way, Hallie fears they’ll never reach safety. Could speaking up about the night that changed everything close the distance between being lost and found? Or has she traveled too far to come back? (source:goodreads)
Narrative-This book is told from the third person POV of the main character, Hallelujah "Hallie" Calhoun; get this: it's also told in the present tense. Now, while there's plenty of books told in the present tense, it's not too often to see (in my opinion), particularly in the third-person. This made the narrative stand out to me straight away; I paid extremely close attention to it throughout the novel, and while it threw me off at first I eventually got very used to it.
In fact, it sounded perfect for the novel. Since the novel's being told in Hallie's perspective, I appreciated the way the narrative mirrored the way I expected Hallie's thoughts to come: quick and succinct, and not too much description except when something really stood out to her. The style of this narrative was one without flowery language: instead, there was simply Hallie and her story, and I think it was actually quite a wonderful read in this way.
★★★★☆
In fact, it sounded perfect for the novel. Since the novel's being told in Hallie's perspective, I appreciated the way the narrative mirrored the way I expected Hallie's thoughts to come: quick and succinct, and not too much description except when something really stood out to her. The style of this narrative was one without flowery language: instead, there was simply Hallie and her story, and I think it was actually quite a wonderful read in this way.
★★★★☆
Plot-The most nagging question when reading this novel is: what happened with the preacher's son? What happened to turn everybody (and I mean everybody; including Hallie's parents) against this girl and turn her silent?
I'm not answering that question for you, but I will say: it's not quite what you're probably thinking, but it's not anything else.
This entire book revolves around Hallie, new-girl Rachel, and Hallie's old friend and crush Jonah getting lost in the woods. My biggest curiosity while reading (besides the preacher's son-incident) was how Holmes would be able to stretch this kind of plot through five-six days (novel time), and she really delivered. There's the kind of life-threatening things you might expect (the threat of starvation, bears, the cold, the constant rain), but there's also a lot of internalized conflicts that get sorted through; I kept thinking about Mindy McGinnis' A HANDFUL OF DUST as I read; yes, McGinnis' book is a post-apocalyptic while Holmes' is contemporary, but there was the common theme of using this journey of survival to find out who you truly are, and it was quite the journey, both on Hallie's end and on the end of Rachel and Jonah, who have their own ghosts to work through.
A quick note: there are references to religion. This whole thing starts because the teens are out on a retreat with their church, and while there were more than a few times I got extremely worried that there would be some kind of religious subtext, I was pleased to realize: there isn't. Instead, the focus is on the characters working through their own beliefs; as someone who has no religious affiliation, I really enjoyed this take on it on a analytic level: watching how this experience changes the views the characters have on multiple aspects of their life.
If I had to summarize, I'd definitely say that this is an eye-opening tale of survival.
★★★★☆
I'm not answering that question for you, but I will say: it's not quite what you're probably thinking, but it's not anything else.
This entire book revolves around Hallie, new-girl Rachel, and Hallie's old friend and crush Jonah getting lost in the woods. My biggest curiosity while reading (besides the preacher's son-incident) was how Holmes would be able to stretch this kind of plot through five-six days (novel time), and she really delivered. There's the kind of life-threatening things you might expect (the threat of starvation, bears, the cold, the constant rain), but there's also a lot of internalized conflicts that get sorted through; I kept thinking about Mindy McGinnis' A HANDFUL OF DUST as I read; yes, McGinnis' book is a post-apocalyptic while Holmes' is contemporary, but there was the common theme of using this journey of survival to find out who you truly are, and it was quite the journey, both on Hallie's end and on the end of Rachel and Jonah, who have their own ghosts to work through.
A quick note: there are references to religion. This whole thing starts because the teens are out on a retreat with their church, and while there were more than a few times I got extremely worried that there would be some kind of religious subtext, I was pleased to realize: there isn't. Instead, the focus is on the characters working through their own beliefs; as someone who has no religious affiliation, I really enjoyed this take on it on a analytic level: watching how this experience changes the views the characters have on multiple aspects of their life.
If I had to summarize, I'd definitely say that this is an eye-opening tale of survival.
★★★★☆
Characters-The three characters most worth focusing on are, obviously, Hallie, Rachel, and Jonah.
Hallie is by far my favorite, because I feel she was the most fleshed out. This is a girl who's gone quiet: she's stopped defending herself against "the event," and she's let it take over her life. Something I really feel like is worth stressing: Hallie isn't a weak character, either. She did probably what numerous people would do (including me): when nobody will listen to her truth, she swallows it (because, really when not even your parents are on your side, what's the point?). She also shows remarkable resilience to meeting new people; it was refreshing to see this in a character with trust issues, the way she kept pushing away the people who wanted to be around her.
I liked Rachel. Not only so we share a name (ya'll thought my full name was Rae, didn't ya'll?), but she's nice. She makes an effort. She legitimately wants to make friends, so when Hallie pushes her away she goes and finds other friends. But then those "friends" turn out to be people she simply doesn't get along with, so she goes back to the original friend-attempt. She's human. She wants to be surrounded by people she appreciates, and who appreciate her back. I would have liked a little more dimension to her besides being defined by her family's dynamics (it's really the most information about her I got), but overall she was a total sweetheart and I wanted to be her friend.
Jonah. Poor Jonah. Really. I want to hate him, and I want Hallie to never forgive him, but at the same time: with the situation he was in after "the event," and the fact that Hallie never stood up for herself, there really wasn't any way for him to know what really happened. He was forced to react with only one side of the story as evidence, a situation that's really rough on anybody (especially after they learn the truth about "the event"). What interested me about Jonah was the fact that he kind of fills the role of the unintentional bad guy; which, thanks to the "unintentional" part, means that I can't hate him like I want to, because I feel a huge amount of sympathy for him.
You know that description really summarized each of these characters? They're human. So human. So sad. So great to spend a few hundred pages with.
★★★★☆
To be perfectly honest, I had absolutely no clue what to expect going into this book. Every moment before Hallie got lost in the woods felt like the book could take any number of directions; heck, even after they got lost, I was constantly curious as to what could possibly happen next. Definitely worth staying up all night to read.
Final Answer: 4 / 5 stars
Hallie is by far my favorite, because I feel she was the most fleshed out. This is a girl who's gone quiet: she's stopped defending herself against "the event," and she's let it take over her life. Something I really feel like is worth stressing: Hallie isn't a weak character, either. She did probably what numerous people would do (including me): when nobody will listen to her truth, she swallows it (because, really when not even your parents are on your side, what's the point?). She also shows remarkable resilience to meeting new people; it was refreshing to see this in a character with trust issues, the way she kept pushing away the people who wanted to be around her.
I liked Rachel. Not only so we share a name (ya'll thought my full name was Rae, didn't ya'll?), but she's nice. She makes an effort. She legitimately wants to make friends, so when Hallie pushes her away she goes and finds other friends. But then those "friends" turn out to be people she simply doesn't get along with, so she goes back to the original friend-attempt. She's human. She wants to be surrounded by people she appreciates, and who appreciate her back. I would have liked a little more dimension to her besides being defined by her family's dynamics (it's really the most information about her I got), but overall she was a total sweetheart and I wanted to be her friend.
Jonah. Poor Jonah. Really. I want to hate him, and I want Hallie to never forgive him, but at the same time: with the situation he was in after "the event," and the fact that Hallie never stood up for herself, there really wasn't any way for him to know what really happened. He was forced to react with only one side of the story as evidence, a situation that's really rough on anybody (especially after they learn the truth about "the event"). What interested me about Jonah was the fact that he kind of fills the role of the unintentional bad guy; which, thanks to the "unintentional" part, means that I can't hate him like I want to, because I feel a huge amount of sympathy for him.
You know that description really summarized each of these characters? They're human. So human. So sad. So great to spend a few hundred pages with.
★★★★☆
To be perfectly honest, I had absolutely no clue what to expect going into this book. Every moment before Hallie got lost in the woods felt like the book could take any number of directions; heck, even after they got lost, I was constantly curious as to what could possibly happen next. Definitely worth staying up all night to read.
Final Answer: 4 / 5 stars
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An eye-opening survival tale. THE DISTANCE BETWEEN LOST AND FOUND @Kathryn_Holmes. Read the ARC review via @Rae_Slater (Click to Tweet)
THE DISTANCE BETWEEN LOST AND FOUND @Kathryn_Holmes earns 4 / 5 stars from blogger @Rae_Slater. Read her ARC review (Click to Tweet)
@Kathryn_Holmes' characters epitomize what it means to be human. THE DISTANCE BETWEEN LOST AND FOUND via @Rae_Slater (Click to Tweet)
Special thanks to Kathryn Holmes, who sent me the Advanced Readers Copy after an incredibly lucky Twitter giveaway!
Thursday, January 1, 2015
2015 Writing Resolutions
Guys, I have amazing news for ya'll: we survived 2014! And to jump on the bandwagon, here's a few resolutions I have for 2015-
- Keep Reading. Really, one of my biggest regrets is how little I read my senior year of high school, freshman year of college, and most of my junior year. During my Spring 2014 semester (when, really, I didn't have much time, anyway), I began reading a lot more, which spouted this blog, and with that reading I think my writing-while still growing-has improved. Plus, there's so many great novels coming out-from new and established authors-that it would be a huge shame to miss out, don't you think?
- Keep Writing. Maybe this seems obvious, but I am consistently reminded of how easy it is to simply stop. Put down the pen, never open that document with the WIP on it again. It's frightfully simple, particularly when there's excuses like school to worry about, and when I succumb to my own fears and doubts so quickly on bad days. I'd love to make it through another draft of THE HOLLOW MEN (currently driving me mad); I'd love to start something new. I'm ecstatic to start my senior thesis (a creative project in which I'm rewriting fairy tales). Each and every one of those goals, however, starts with reminding myself that nothing will ever get written if I never write.
- Keep Interacting. If ya'll don't know already, I've technically been a member of Twitter since 2012, but I never actually used it until this past summer (2014). Since I began interacting with other readers and writers, I've met so many amazing people that have done nothing but inspire me to keep doing what I'm doing: anything is possible. One of my absolutely favorite things in this world is the opportunity that I have to meet new people, and I look forward to meeting many new people in the new year, and learning from them, as well.
Those are the most basic goals in the world, I know. But I plan to keep to them. If ya'll want a few specifics, here goes:
- Did ya'll know I've maintained a 4.0 GPA through five semesters at college? I graduate in December 2015, which means that by this time next year I'll be an official adult, and I'd love to have the bragging rights to keeping a 4.0 GPA through my entire college career.
- If I can get to a somewhat partially polished version of THE HOLLOW MEN, I'll be over the moon. If it's polished enough to make it to beta readers, then you'll never get me back on earth.
- I enjoy running on the treadmill. This might be a bit cliche, but if I can work out at least 5 days a week, I'm sure to be in the best shape of my life.
- Finally: the first niece I've ever had, a beautiful little girl named Ella Mae, was born to my oldest sister in September. Unfortunately, Ella and her parents live in New York while I'm here in New Mexico, and I've been unable to meet my niece in-person. I'd love to change this in 2015.
Well, what about you? What kinds of resolutions-writing and otherwise-do you have in 2015?
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@Rae_Slater shares her goals and resolutions for 2015, including writing, reading, and meeting new people. (Click to Tweet)
@Rae_Slater shares her reading, writing, + life resolutions for 2015, and asks: what are your goals for the new year? (Click to Tweet)
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