Posts tagged ‘info dump’
WHAT IS AN ‘INFO DUMP’?
WHAT IS AN ‘INFO DUMP’?
What is an ‘info dump’?
A ‘info dump’ is something writers try to avoid. In my opinion, an ‘info dump’ slows down the story and may result in boring the reader. Here is the condition which could result in an ‘info dump’ if the writer is not careful. It would be interesting if you now thought about some of the stories you have read and whether they contained an ‘info dump’ and if it affected your appreciation of the story. Say there’s a situation in a story which requires a detailed explanation to carry the story along. How the writer decides to explain these details could result in the story shifting from a story to a lecture and possibly bore the reader. What I usually do is first determine how much detail the reader needs to understand what is happening in the story. Then I deliver the knowledge usually with characters discussing the situation rather than writing a detailed explanation to inform the reader of what is involved in what is occurring in the story. Conversation between characters avoids an ‘info dump’. In my story, Martian Rebirth, I use the head of NASA conducting a press conference to include some prion information in the
PRIONS AND THE MARS INVASION OF EARTH
PRIONS AND THE MARS INVASION OF EARTH
While writing Martian Rebirth I asked myself, “How could enough prions, floating through space, be able to infect an entire planet. This recently resulted in a look at prion replication. Also, in avoiding including this information, I avoided an ‘info dump’.
The next two posts will involve an explanation of what an ‘info dump’ is and a look and prion replication and how, in my story, prion replication on Earth would be different than that on Mars. These subjects may not instill a burning interest in some. But some may be curious.
I wondered how prions multiply for they are nothing but strains of protein lacking DNA and RNA, standard requirements to multiply.
I also realized if an expensive exploration of my question in this story would probably result in an ‘info dump’ and slow down the story. So now that you have read the story what follows is the explanation of what exactly an ‘info dump’ is and a brief look at prion replication.
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