Skill Focus – Info Dumping

Because if your character stops mid-scene to explain the political history of their planet... we’re probably skimming.

✨ Welcome to the Worldbuilding Blender

You have lore. You have cool backstory. You’ve built maps, systems, trauma timelines, and species taxonomies.

💡 You are the Keeper of the Knowledge.

But if all that comes rushing out at the reader too soon or too forcefully?

🧠 It overloads.
⏳ It drags.
💥 It kills momentum.

Let’s learn to blend information into story—not dump it in a pile.

🧠 What Is an Info Dump?

An info dump is when:

  • Backstory is delivered all at once

  • Worldbuilding is explained instead of shown

  • The narrator pauses the scene to give a lecture

  • Characters say things they already know just so the reader hears it

❌ “As you know, the dragons returned after the War of Ashes in 721 when…”

🙃 You lost me at “as you know.”

🛠️ Try This Rewrite Drill

Here’s your info dump:

“The mage’s cloak was deep blue, signifying their rank. In the Guild of Nine, blue cloaks were reserved for spellwrights who’d completed the Trial of Binding, a test that began after the War of Rivers and was only recently reinstated.”

Now rewrite it in-scene, using:

  • Dialogue

  • Object interaction

  • Character assumptions or emotional stakes

💡 Tip: Don’t explain the system—let us see how it works.

🎯 Quillwyn’s “Show, Don’t Dump” Checklist

Ask:

  • Does this info move the current scene forward?

  • Can I break this up and deliver it in pieces?

  • Can a character reveal this through need, urgency, or conflict?

  • Is now the best moment—or can the reader wait?

If it doesn’t serve this moment, trim or delay.

🧪 Better Options Than Dumping

Try:

  • Revealing info through argument or mistaken assumptions

  • Letting the reader infer based on how people act or react

  • Using details that imply bigger systems without explaining them

“She yanked the blue cloak tighter. Two passersby lowered their eyes.”
Boom. We know it means something powerful. No dump required.

💬 Need Help? Ask Quillwyn!

Drop your exposition-heavy paragraph and say:

“Can you help me trim this info dump or show it instead?”

She’ll help you slice, scatter, and rewrite so the information serves the scene.