First world problems meme from the Internet
Magical Words draws from bloggers throughout the publication industry. Previously I have recommended posts by authors, now one from a content editor. Emily Leverett has assembled several anthologies over the years as the primary editor or supporting editor including The Big Bad and Weird Wild West. This woman breathes words and grammar. And her short stories are lyrical masterpieces.
In the post “What I don’t want to see…”, Ms. Leverett covers what she looks for in an opening paragraph when choosing short fiction as content editor; what is she willing to spend her precious time polishing for publication and making money for both the author and herself.
She then continues that even if you have moved the info dump from the first paragraph to the third – THIS IS STILL NOT GOOD ENOUGH. Dole out your information, do not stop the action.
Full blog is here: http://www.magicalwords.net/really-i-mean-it/what-i-dont-want-to-see/
WRITING EXERCISE: Review the first five pages of your work-in-progress (WIP). Any places where you stopped trusting the reader and started filling in all the holes so they don’t need their imagination?
READING EXERCISE: Read the first page of your present book again – at what point are you immersed in the story? At any point thereafter are you slowed down because the author started an information dump?
Another good blog on info dumping can be found in the NaNo Novel Book Camp at this blog entry: https://ellenbrockediting.com/2014/07/03/novel-boot-camp-lecture-3-how-to-avoid-info-dumping/