What Method Is Better?

Question

I am in the process of writing a story, hopefully turn into a novel. I have been working on it from take to time, now I'm getting down to business. When I started to write the introduction, I pretty much layed all of the information out in the introduction. (Who The Characters Are, what they're like, about them, where they lie etc.)

Do you think that's coming on to strong for the introduction? Or do you think I should tell the information gradually throughout the chapters. If you suggest that I'm going to have a to of work to do!

Answer 1

do it gradually, because if add all too soon then why read the book if you know everything about it.

Answer 2

Absolutely it is coming on too strong. That is what we call an information dump. The idea is to show - not tell - your story. The information should weave its way through the story naturally. Don't give it all away in the first few paragraphs. Those paragraphs should ease writers into the story, but at the same time have enough interest to make them want more. That's why you should always start with a kick tail first sentence, then back off just a little, leaving the reader to wonder what that sentence is all about. Hope that helps. Pax - C

Answer 3

Why bother reading the story at all? Part of the joy of reading a story is learning little by little about the folks introduced in the story.

Let's say one of you're characters every Tuesday has lunch at a deli called Allen's Famous.There they typically order maple cured country ham and provolone on rye with mayo and champange dill mustard, a side of Belgian fries with a peanut satay dipping sauce, and an Irish cream ice coffee. But on the rare occassions they don't order this they either order a smoked gouda & proscuitto panini with Frito's and a pink lemonade or a reuben with a cobb salad and a German ale. If you tell folks up front this kind of information (not major to a story but it does show an element of the character's character), then they'll be expecting to see the character order exactly this when they go in on a Tuesday.

But if you don't tell folks this up front, and then you have it happen several times in the story, then folks will be able to say "Oh, the character like's visiting that particular deli on Tuesday and this is what they usually order for lunch. But in rare occasions they'll order one of these two for lunch on Tuesdays."

They get to know the character over time, so they find little surprises they don't know to expect.

Answer 4

Writing a story is much different than writing a novel, as you must know. In a story, especially what is known as a short-short, you can pack in as much information as you want in a few words... as long as a reader will feel the interest to read the story to the end!
As for turning a story into a novel, yeah, you do have a lot of work to do...
It's fun though, isn't it?