The wonderful world of info dumps

This is something that always pops up in writing, especially with new writers, even even with experienced ones as well.

Please don't drop big info dumps in the beginning of the story. We don't need to know exactly what the hero and heroine look like right down to their shoe size by the time we get to page number two. We also don't need to know where they went to school, if Daddy loved them enough, if Mommy was never home, what elementary school they went to and what their favorite food is by the time we get to page number four. =) We don't need all those details right away. Trust me, that's not a hook for your reader. It's more like a yawn. There's nothing about that that's intriguing. Instead, start us off with some action. Lots of action.

And don't take leaving the info dumps out as to give us ANY information. Info is good, but we don't need five paragraphs detailing the heroine's life. Keep the story moving. Let things about your characters come out gradually. Let the reader learn the character, don't just tell them everything about the character. Show the reader the character.

Yes, those bad words, showing vs telling. But as long as people still do it, we editors will still continue to talk about it. =) Don't spend a paragraph giving us an info dump about how the villain is evil because he killed a litter of puppies. Show us something relevant, like the way he treats a family member in the presents, or dastardly actions he takes against a coworker.

I know I've kind of swayed off topic, into showing vs telling, but, I'm the queen of starting on one tangent and ending up on another. If I keep typing, I'll probably end up on the issue of filter words, the correct usage of the past participle, or the proper usage of lie vs lay.

Trust me, we don't want to go there. =)