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What are some ways to include background information in a story without info-dumping? This is an area I struggle with, so I would appreciate any suggestions you have.
One way to do this is to introduce a gossipy character who has profound interest in all types of background information, and introduce a curious stranger who will then ask this gossipy person questions. One thing you have to remember though if you take this approach is that gossipy people often get the narrative slightly wrong or exaggerate the juiciest parts, so the story will be somewhat faulty.
Another way to do this is to have the character with the background you are trying to introduce think about it in his/her daily thoughts. If you are having a scene from this character’s point of view (telling his thoughts, his observations, his opinions on something that’s happening while he’s thinking) things could remind him of whatever happened in his past that you wanted to tell. He could see a child walking hand in hand with the child’s father, and remember his own great dad wistfully if he is an orphan and that is what you wanted to let the reader know. One difficulty with this is that the character will already know what you are trying to tell the reader through this scene, and so will think in vague, half thoughts that cover everything for him, but are not always sufficient for a reader unfamiliar with the right information. So in handling such scenes, you often have to tell the story in thoughts and body language. ‘Travis tore his eyes away from the child’s disappearing figure and shoved his hands down into his pockets, kicking at a loose pebble that had rolled into the street. His dad had been that way. What times they had enjoyed together. What things they had seen, what places they had gone… before… before… Travis shook his head savagely and turned away, refusing to remember. Remembering was only anguish.’
So in this mini scene I got up as an example, we never actually heard that Travis was an orphan or that he is bitter that his dad died. But we gather it from the color of his thoughts, his restive, angry motions, and the fact that he doesn’t want to remember. And maybe we gather that Travis is blaming himself for it, or that his dad died under unusual circumstances, based on the fact that Travis doesn’t permit himself to think ‘before…’ what? Make sense?That does make sense. I hadn’t thought of using a talkative character to reveal information; that is a good idea. Your second suggestion was also very helpful. Thank you.
Supposing that the background information is a historical event, it may actually be best to have one of your characters recount the historical event in great detail to another character in one long explanation. If it is family history, it depends. Sometimes you will want to reveal the whole history at once and other times you will want to reveal it slowly through conversations or events. I would suggest that the main factor in deciding how to do this, is how important the background information is to the plot. If it is engaging background info which is important to the plot, but only to set things in place, then it is probably better to lay it all out at once. If, however, the information is central to the plot, it should be revealed slowly. For instance, if your character is trying to figure out who his long lost father is, and where to find him, and if he needs to learn some important family history to figure that out, your story would be much more exciting if he learned that family history bit by bit, as opposed to learning it all at once.
Now then, what you actually asked is how to reveal information in a casual manner, not when to. One thing you can do to ease background info in gently, is to use clues or advanced warnings. So, say your main character is just about to meet with someone who will inform him of some background information that will change his life completely. As the author, you are going to have the informer give your main character a long speech. So how can you make it seem to your reader that you are not just dumping information on them? Clues and advanced warnings. Have your character overhear a conversation, see symbols, see monuments, see people he recognizes, anything that will give him a suspicion of what he is about to hear, Just don’t let the clue give the whole thing away. Keep your reader wondering. Then, when they read the long section of background info, they will devour it eagerly.
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Thank you, Daeus. The background information I am having trouble with is historical, so your first suggestion is especially helpful. So is your comment about using clues and advanced warnings.
You have to info-dump! Slowly 🙂 Even having a gossipy character or giving clues can be heavy-handed if used improperly. The big long speech has to be used sparingly. Like only once in a book. And you need to break up the speech with the characters moving so as to not have massive paragraphs or talking bubble heads (if you know what I mean).
I suggest just easing it in slowly through dialogue and body language. I rarely use a speech. I mean you gotta remember that “your readers aren’t idiots, but they’re not rocket scientists either”.
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