Writing Blog Number 2

20240929 Hemingway On Info-dumps

Hemingway On Info-dumps

Recently Max Griffin 🏳️‍🌈 did a quite comprehensive and well-written newsletter (and subsequent Newsfeed note - "Note: View this Note") about info-dumping. And I’ve brought it up in the past as well. So, looking through my notes et al., I found this:

Something quite popular at the moment is "Iceberg Videos" - where you go deeper and deeper into more and more obscure information. They can be fun, infuriating and, generally, are useless and don't do what they say.

But the concept is also used in writing, especially description and world-building. And reading a lot of things by unpublished writers, some books online, some other works, I think this iceberg is worth considering.

The Hemingway Iceberg Theory Of Writing.

Yes, Ernest Hemingway... in case you thought it was named after Mariel or Margaux...

Based on the fact that, traditionally, 90% of an iceberg is said to exist under the surface of the water, this can best be summed up by:
Hemingway said that only the tip of the iceberg showed in fiction—your reader will see only what is above the water—but the knowledge that you have about your character that never makes it into the story acts as the bulk of the iceberg. And that is what gives your story weight and gravitas.
(Jenna Blum, The Author At Work, 2013)

What this means is you can do all the work you want on world-building, but don't just info-dump it to tell your reader. Too often, I see this: You've created this magnificent world and these characters, and, goshdarnit, you're going to let everyone know all the work you've put in! Well, it's generally boring. If you think your story needs that much exposition, especially at the beginning of the tale, then maybe look at how your story starts. I would also include the overly detailed character descriptions so many beginner writers seem inclined to foist upon their readers.

I know I'm going to cop abuse for this (I always do when I mention info-dumps), but I think this is important. If you are writing for yourself, great, do what you want. But if you are writing for an external reader, then maybe take Hemingway's advice into consideration.

Just a thought.