Couldn't agree more. I can always tell when an author has prioritised "telling the reader everything I know/have invented about this world" over "tell a good story".
I rejected multiple submissions for my sci-fi anthology for that exact reason. The authors spent the first 3-4 pages doing an info dump of their backstory and I didn't want to read by the time they started telling the actual story.
I've found it to be a reasonable workaround to create a dialogue with a scholarly type who studies whatever I want to talk about to be a reasonable workaround, AS LONG as it's not overused. It's not realistic to think that a pragmatic warrior type will stand there and listen with rapt attention to some professor talking about the history, geography, or cultures of my fictional world all day long.
Creating a reason for the main character to need this information can extend that somewhat. If the scholar is not a stereotypical wizened, bespectacled old man but a young, attractive woman with an infectious passion for her chosen field of study, that can also help.
The key is to weave it in with something other than static description.
I agree dialogue can be useful for introducing backstory, as long as it feels like an authentic conversation between two characters.
One thing I don't like is when a character starts explaining things to another character who has the same knowledge/experience/skills related to the subject matter of their conversation. Sci-fi shows like Star Trek famously do this whenever they spout technobabble. Those moments in a story feel like the character who's speaking is addressing the unseen audience rather than speaking with another character. It feels rather unrealistic relative to how a conversation between two peers might go in real life.
Agreed, you have to create a scenario where it makes sense to go into that level of detail. Conversations between knowledgeable people are often full of terminology specific to the subject that can make them kind of inscrutable to those who aren't familiar. That kind of dialogue presents its own challenges. It can require a little more context so the reader understands, but that should be kept to a minimum.
Couldn't agree more. I can always tell when an author has prioritised "telling the reader everything I know/have invented about this world" over "tell a good story".
I rejected multiple submissions for my sci-fi anthology for that exact reason. The authors spent the first 3-4 pages doing an info dump of their backstory and I didn't want to read by the time they started telling the actual story.
I've found it to be a reasonable workaround to create a dialogue with a scholarly type who studies whatever I want to talk about to be a reasonable workaround, AS LONG as it's not overused. It's not realistic to think that a pragmatic warrior type will stand there and listen with rapt attention to some professor talking about the history, geography, or cultures of my fictional world all day long.
Creating a reason for the main character to need this information can extend that somewhat. If the scholar is not a stereotypical wizened, bespectacled old man but a young, attractive woman with an infectious passion for her chosen field of study, that can also help.
The key is to weave it in with something other than static description.
I agree dialogue can be useful for introducing backstory, as long as it feels like an authentic conversation between two characters.
One thing I don't like is when a character starts explaining things to another character who has the same knowledge/experience/skills related to the subject matter of their conversation. Sci-fi shows like Star Trek famously do this whenever they spout technobabble. Those moments in a story feel like the character who's speaking is addressing the unseen audience rather than speaking with another character. It feels rather unrealistic relative to how a conversation between two peers might go in real life.
Agreed, you have to create a scenario where it makes sense to go into that level of detail. Conversations between knowledgeable people are often full of terminology specific to the subject that can make them kind of inscrutable to those who aren't familiar. That kind of dialogue presents its own challenges. It can require a little more context so the reader understands, but that should be kept to a minimum.