Tuesday's Writer's Tip Ways to Avoid Detail dumps #MFRWAuthor #BWL Publishing Inc, ##Writing #Details

You have all that lovely research. You've pages of descriptions of the house, the garden, etc. ready for your story. You've described your characters from head to toes. How do you keep from swamping your readers with all these details;

One way is to intersperse the facts with fiction.  Show the characters interacting with the facts and each other. Use dialogue. Use a character's curiosity. Find ways to pur the information in bit by bit instead of long passages.

Cut down those fact filled bits. This comes under revision. As you're revising and you come to a long prose passage filled with facts and information. Look to see which ones are vital to the story. I know how wonderful all these new facts you've learned and taken notes about are but think of the poor reader forced to read on and on before the story returns. Think of those commercials, not an informational when you're laying on the facts.

Don't turn your character into a teacher. Having one of the characters run on and on about something that interests them is one way to have the reader put the book aside. A long sermon on dieting or on cutting a gem into shape or any number of things slows down the story not to mention the reader's patience.

Next time I'll show a few more ways to keep from turning your story into a marsh waiting to suck the reader down with facts.