tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-447603865959500290.post10679642369519203..comments2024-03-28T02:54:46.537-04:00Comments on The TOF Spot: Infodumps for Fun and ProfitTheOFloinnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14756711106266484327noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-447603865959500290.post-74212772328599049982016-12-03T00:06:31.924-05:002016-12-03T00:06:31.924-05:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Bloggerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07287821785570247118noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-447603865959500290.post-26305260361550812962015-08-01T10:30:02.645-04:002015-08-01T10:30:02.645-04:00It's the sort of thing the reader expects and ...It's the sort of thing the reader expects and wants in a history. Even in a fiction, it is tolerable in small doses. In <i>Up Jim River,</i> each planet visited by the harper and the scarred man gets a small background introduction.TheOFloinnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14756711106266484327noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-447603865959500290.post-10889298964885036692015-07-31T22:28:09.314-04:002015-07-31T22:28:09.314-04:00Incredibly informative, this is great!
It *is* a ...Incredibly informative, this is great!<br /><br />It *is* a different genre, and thus has different goals, but what do you think about the digressions of Herodotus in _The Histories_? The sort of "before I speak about this battle, let me tell you about the culture and myths of the peoples who made up the opposing parties. Then let me tell you about the country it took place in, and the geography of its cities! And then...!" style?rjohnlennonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07388273510498438009noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-447603865959500290.post-74060626452845097002015-07-27T13:42:30.195-04:002015-07-27T13:42:30.195-04:00I despise #4, The Visitor, as a method of infodump...I despise #4, The Visitor, as a method of infodump. It's wildly overused in fantasy etc. I think that's one of the reasons I enjoyed your writing as soon as I got into it. I started with Eifelheim and if ever there was a time for Visitor, that was it...and you went the other way. Much appreciated.<br /><br />RobAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-447603865959500290.post-7419358318526541442015-07-27T10:08:09.362-04:002015-07-27T10:08:09.362-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.thefederalisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17514099991587503764noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-447603865959500290.post-29463843516057926512015-07-27T10:06:47.066-04:002015-07-27T10:06:47.066-04:001908 was when they began to publicize their invent...1908 was when they began to publicize their invention.thefederalisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17514099991587503764noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-447603865959500290.post-91632984346756351452015-07-27T07:11:39.019-04:002015-07-27T07:11:39.019-04:00I always admired the way Ralph Ellison handled his...I always admired the way Ralph Ellison handled his infodumping in INVISIBLE MAN. Indirect and unobtrusive, but always clear. For example, instead of writing that a man was white, he would write that he was blond.<br /><br />The opening of the second chapter of that novel--I think it was the second chapter, anyway--where he sets the scene at the college, he makes it interesting purely through the force of his language and the motifs and symbols he incorporates. Call it the infodump-as-poem strategy. Not sure how applicable it is to genre fiction, but I like it.Edward Isaacshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15178867205047028725noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-447603865959500290.post-61229622072909930932015-07-26T23:32:16.867-04:002015-07-26T23:32:16.867-04:00Very helpful, thanks.
On the topic of the "...Very helpful, thanks. <br /><br />On the topic of the "Catalog of Ships" in the Iliad, we just were reading that out loud (son #2 is heading off to Thomas Aquinas College in a month, so we thought we'd all read the Iliad aloud). I thought it was less an info dump as a way to suck the listeners in, as I'd imagined that, for the early audiences at least, all those lands and peoples were familiar from their own histories. It would be cool to hear the legends of one's homeland and neighbors confirmed and expanded on. Only later, maybe, it would become tedious. Joseph Moorehttp://yardsaleofthemind.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-447603865959500290.post-70885506212933958082015-07-25T09:10:29.845-04:002015-07-25T09:10:29.845-04:00Dunning's "thumb and hand" principle...Dunning's "thumb and hand" principle is one I hadn't heard. Factual and fun treatise on a subject we all struggle with. This one is going to my article archive on craft. Thanks. DT Krippenehttp://dtkrippene.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-447603865959500290.post-67685192389203999722015-07-25T08:53:33.632-04:002015-07-25T08:53:33.632-04:00It's a terrific book.It's a terrific book. Xena Catolicanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-447603865959500290.post-68274259500407303902015-07-25T01:59:13.729-04:002015-07-25T01:59:13.729-04:00So, I really need to read "The Wreck of the R...So, I really need to read "The Wreck of the River of Stars", just because that title is amazing.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-447603865959500290.post-6384743911482722042015-07-24T16:08:35.153-04:002015-07-24T16:08:35.153-04:00Dang. Why did I have 1908 stuck in my mind??Dang. Why did I have 1908 stuck in my mind??TheOFloinnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14756711106266484327noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-447603865959500290.post-78603775446888027452015-07-24T12:21:55.363-04:002015-07-24T12:21:55.363-04:001905 was two years after the Wright brothers first...1905 was two years <i>after</i> the Wright brothers first flew.Sophia's Favoritehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02871625814389904112noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-447603865959500290.post-73017487294973325582015-07-24T10:17:36.682-04:002015-07-24T10:17:36.682-04:00There have been too few stories from your pen in r...There have been too few stories from your pen in recent years.TheOFloinnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14756711106266484327noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-447603865959500290.post-84428516154380499972015-07-24T09:55:17.803-04:002015-07-24T09:55:17.803-04:00Another way to improve an infodump, as long as it ...Another way to improve an infodump, as long as it is not too long, is to have it do double-duty revealing the "colorfulness" of the character relating the info by how he explains things, the mannerisms he's prone to, the excitement and love of the topic he displays, etc. However, this is no excuse to introduce such a character, or change an existing one, just to improve the infodump.<br /><br />In my case, how much I loved the ringing prose I used in a cherished infodump was almost always inversely proportional to the actual need to keep it.Jeffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14088754734378348761noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-447603865959500290.post-1934340206642525842015-07-23T20:47:13.533-04:002015-07-23T20:47:13.533-04:00I like the term "Infodribble" --I'm ...I like the term "Infodribble" --I'm stealing it immediately for my students. But I offer in exchange the metaphor of one of our guest speakers, who said an Infodump was an all-crushing boulder, while the occasional nugget worked a lot better and preserved momentum. Drop nuggets, he said, don't roll a boulder!<br /><br />Meanwhile, in the exotic country of Iowa, I'm developing a number of colorful metaphors in the process of correcting proofs. Somehow, strangely, it never comes up when authors discuss publication....Xena Catolicanoreply@blogger.com