Readers don’t need to know nearly as much as we think they do. In fact, the opposite is often true. The less readers know, especially in the beginning, the better. Yet so many writers use the beginning of their novels to dump loads of information.
This is harmful, people. Seriously, seriously harmful.
First, it bores the reader.
Think for a minute. Why do you read? To get caught up in a good story, right? Yet when we stop the flow of the story to fill the reader in, they’re no longer getting a story. They’re getting a biography on a character they neither know or care about yet.
Second, it’s not natural.
How do you get to know a person? How do you move from first-time acquaintances to full-out friends? Usually there’s a process. When we’re introduced to somebody for the first time, we know better than to reveal all the personal details of our past. That would be awkward. And again, boring. In order to care about somebody’s past, we have to get to know the person. And we get to know a person by what they say and do. Otherwise known as action and dialogue.
Third, it squashes all intrigue.
This is huge. Huge, huge. The biggest reason why we shouldn’t reveal too much in the beginning. Think about what keeps readers turning pages. It’s intrigue, right? That enticing unanswered question. The minute we jump in and reveal too much information is the minute we squish all the questions.
Last week, we had issues with our plumbing.
First, there was this mysterious drip coming from the ceiling in our laundry room. That drip caught my attention. I found myself thinking about it throughout the day. Visiting the laundry room more often than usual.
The next morning, the rug in our upstairs bathroom was wet. It was a mystery, because I couldn’t find a leak anywhere. You can believe my curiosity (and okay, fear) doubled. Were the two related? Where was the water coming from?
The day after that, more wetness on the bathroom floor. The leaky ceiling was worse. And get this. Another pipe in our basement, nowhere near the leaky ceiling, started dripping.
I went upstairs, got on my hands and knees, and searched everywhere. I was hooked. I was engaged. I was obsessed with finding this dang leak.
My plumbing gets it. It understands the art of stringing an audience along, bit by bit, unveiling just enough to keep a person hooked.
What an important skill to master as a writer.
We need to know how to reveal tantalizing scents that make our readers want to take a few steps further to see what’s up ahead. And when they move forward, the scent needs to get stronger. More tantalizing.
Okay, maybe I’m mixing metaphors here. Tantalizing scents and plumbing problems probably shouldn’t go together. But you know what I mean.
Of course, there is a fine line. We can’t reveal so little that the reader gets confused. All I’m saying is, many of us error on the side of too much. And I’d take a confused reader over a bored one any day. Because at least a confused reader keeps turning those pages.
Let’s Talk: What do you think? Do you tend to reveal too much, afraid the reader won’t understand or like the character unless you explain everything? Have you mastered the art of hinting?
*Photo by missy &the universe
[…] Right from the get-go, hints are subtly sprinkled throughout, eliciting questions that string the reader along. […]
Good article, and good comments, too. Marji, I agree. In the first draft it's often there for me and I know it'll get scrapped. I've learned so much, and my writing has improved dramatically, but I'm still learning.
It's as if this "intuition" is birthed in you as you study the craft, and it grows as you do, helping you to sense that balance better and better. I'd like to think my intuition is no longer an infant. Perhaps closer to an unruly teen, lol. Getting there!
You are right on point when you say that people don't know or care enough about a character yet to suffer through an information dump. Great post!
Mac – you are so right. I've been a judge for contests and this is by FAR the biggest mistake I see in so many manuscripts. Which always baffles me because like you said, it's warned against so often in craft books and blog posts.
I've been giving a lot of thought to this very thing lately. Better to drop little crumbs and keep them coming than to feed them the whole cookie. If you do that they'll just get their fill and move on.
Great post, Katie, as always!
Okay, I'm getting a hilarious image of the pipes in your house. They're wringing their hands, just waiting for you to find the problem. And I guess that's exactly what a good author does, too. They sit in front of their computer and they type an opening that makes them wring their hands and snicker. "I can't wait to see if the readers can figure THIS one out."
Have I mastered this skill yet? I hope so, but time will tell. 🙂
I agree with what James Scott Bell once said, light the match and let the fun begin. 😉
My first drafts always have a garbage dump at the beginning, but I think it's more for me than for my readers. It's usually the first section (or chapter, or group of chapters) that gets moved to the "Scrap Heap" document.
You're right! Feeding just enough, just when it's necessary, is JUUUUUST right. Gee, I feel like I'm in the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears.
Good questions and I like the dialogue in the comments. Well done!!
I'd like to pretend that I inspired this post.
You rock, my friend. Truly. Great stuff. 🙂
And you make me laugh.
In my first manuscript, I revealed way too much way too soon. As I've studied craft and written more stories, I've learned to weave in snippets of backstory on an as-needed basis. In this case, less really is more. More effective. More fun for the reader. More apt to keep readers turning pages.
Thanks Katie, great reminder. I tend to think my reader needs to know EVERYTHING that has ever happened to my MCs. I need to know everything, but the reader definitely doesn't!
The evil of dumping information is the most common thread discussion in every how-to book, blog. . . yet it is STILL the most common error I see in every piece I crit within CGs, or read, whether traditionally published or self-published.
Argh!!
I wish I could force the world to read this posting.
— RMW
I usually let myself information dump on my first draft – simply because I'm a Halvsie (Half plotter / Half SOTP). It helps me get my thoughts together. On edit, I hack away until all that is left is a drip (to use your plumbing metaphor 🙂
Great post!
I did this at the beginning of my story. I realized what I had done, added to chapters before the original first chapter and cut a whole bunch o stuff. So much better now 🙂
LOL, Sarah. Yep, we found the leak. 🙂
I can't believe nobody asked – did you find the leak? 🙂
Ah, what a way to turn a problem into an intriguing blog post. Don't waste anything, right?
The challenge of writing fiction–not too much, not too little–can be overwhelming. This is why sometimes I've wanted to slam the door on the Dark Side and stay with writing nonfiction. But the allure of writing a tantalizing, can't put it down story … that's so intriguing too.
Great blog post, Katie.
I did that early on, then I went the other direction and made my writing almost too cryptic, not allowing the reader to learn enough about my main character's emotions. Definitely need a balance.
I've whittled down a three page prologue into one paragraph in chapter 1. The rest of the information I sprinkled through out the first 1/2 of the manuscript. It's much better! Now I just wish I could figure out a way to get rid of that first initial paragraph.
You bring up a great point Olivia – it is such a fine line. We have to reveal enough for things to make sense. We have to drop hints for things to come. We just have to learn how to do it while telling the story, not stopping it.
And I'm so with you – I love when minor things turn out to be very important to the story.
I do like a page-turner. However, sometimes, even though I'm hooked on the story, irritation rises and I think "Oh, how convenient that he just happens to know how to . . . " at a critical moment when the author gave no clue ahead of time that the character possessed an important ability or feature. I love it when minor things introduced early turn out to matter a great deal.
An artful balance it is between revealing too much and not sharing enough (says Yoda). 😀
And we both used dang in our posts today. 😀 😀
I like to keep 'em guessing. It's the way things have been for me, so I like to do that for my readers.
~ Wendy
Great post,Katie. I so agree! Less is more. It really is an art to know how to keep readers guessing. And it is the first rule of thumb in thriller writing and 'who done it's'. A good book to get the hang od it is Les Edgerton's 'Hooked'.
Oh, I used to do this in my early stories, but thankfully I've gained a bit of knowledge through the years. I hope now I'm just dropping enough nuggets in those early chapters (and building on them throughout) to keep the reader hooked.
love the post – so true. I usually write with way too much information and then cut it back as I edit.
I've always had the opposite problem – not including enough. My CPs always tell me to add more!
Great post! I think I've learned over the years. Pretty sure I told a whole lot more than I should in the early writings. 🙂