Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Questions - and answers

Paula tries to answer an interesting question about questions!

I was asked a question recently about how much information a character should give in answer to a question, which really got me thinking! Having a someone ask a question and someone else answering is a useful technique for giving your readers some important information, either about the character or about a plot development. However, there are pitfalls to watch out for!

Have you ever read a novel where a character asks a question, and is then given a long complicated answer, so much so that you’ve switched off half way through the paragraph, or in some cases, the whole page?

I’m thinking of one novel I read where the symbols expert (there, I’ve probably revealed the book I’m thinking of!) goes into lengthy explanations about symbols and history. We are treated to what almost amounts to a dissertation when, in fact, most of the answers the expert gave could have been condensed into a few concise sentences. I was left feeling that the author simply wanted to show off how much research he had done and therefore bombarded the reader with a lot of detailed  (and unnecessary) facts.

Similarly, I’ve read ‘backstory’ presented in a similar way, following questions such as, “What have you been doing since we last met?” or “Why did your grandmother (or aunt or whoever) bring you up?” The character then proceeds to tell all in lengthy detail.

In both these cases, the author is using the question and answer as an information dump, either to reveal his/her detailed research or to tell the reader about the past life history of one of the characters.

What should authors do instead?

In the case of the research information, yes, it is tempting to include the mass of details you have scribbled in your notebook - but only if you want to bore the reader to death! When I was writing ‘Changing the Future’, I did a lot of research about volcanoes, but probably only used about one percent of it in the story. I sometimes tell people that you have to research the other 99 percent to make sure your one percent is correct, but you only include what is absolutely necessary for your story.

With backstory, it is far better to ‘drip-feed’ it into the story at appropriate times. Any huge chunk of backstory, either in dialogue or in the inner thoughts of a character, inevitably breaks into the ‘present’ and slows the whole story down.

In most cases, with questions and answers, ‘less is more’. Don’t spell everything out in your characters’ questions and answers, don’t beat your readers over the head with lengthy explanations or descriptions, and don’t use ‘contrived’ questions and answers to dump information or advance the plot.

Instead, credit your readers with some intelligence and imagination, keep your questions and answers short and to the point, and use the ‘drip-fee’ technique to reveal information as and when it is necessary. Far better for the readers to formulate some questions in their minds, than to give them all the answers too soon!

12 comments:

  1. I had one of my critique partners suggest I drip feed the back story throughout a few chapters. I've always known not to do an info dump, but it was only when she highlighted what should be spread out, and suggested a few places to do it, that I was really able to do it successfully. And it really does make the story better. It's one of those times you need to fight against the writer brain, I think.

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    1. I've been equally as guilty in the past about dumping backstory in a big chunk. Am trying to cure myself of the habit!

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  2. Interesting points, Paula. It's always tricky how much back story to put in and how much to leave to the reader's imagination.

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    1. Agree. There's a very fine line between too much and too little!

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  3. Great post, Paula! I think managing backstory and determining the right amount of technical details are skills that we can improve with practice. And good feedback.

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    1. Thanks, Ana! 'Drip-feed' seems to be the best technique, so that readers absorb the information you want them to have without realising they are being fed with that information!

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  4. I totally guessed the book! Too funny!

    Delving into background, no matter how you do it, is definitely a careful balancing act. Too much and it's an information dump, too little and we're left wondering What the--?!

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    1. Think I gave it away with the 'symbols expert', didn't I? LOL
      And yes, it is a balancing act - and also a case of working out just how much of the back story is actually relevant to the present story.

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  5. Getting enough info to your readers so that they can follow the storyline without being inundated and lost by you being to to technical, overwhelming or dry is a real trick of good writing; it isn't something that can be summed-up or taught. I just went on a rant in my blog about writers who made everything complicated by emptying their thesaurus and using every conceivable word to describe each noun and verb. A writer who gives too much detail is a bore and sometimes, a show-off. A writer always takes a risk when writing about something that is uncommon or technical: how much does the reader already know and how much do they need to know? If there is a certain skill that a character has, how much does the writer explain? Some go overboard with nuances that only those proficient or truly knowledgeable in the skill would appreciate.That may be cute for those readers, but it truly narrows their fan base.

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    1. Tonette, I agree about those who have swallowed a thesaurus!
      With the technical info and/or specialised information, I think you have to find the balance between vagueness and over-explanation but it's not easy to do. You don't want to insult your readers by assuming they know nothing, but at the same time, you don't want to overwhelm (or bore) them with too much information.

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  6. Replies
    1. Yay, glad you found out how to comment, Carol :-)

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