A science fiction writing workshop lexicon

Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/04/06/heinleining-and-stapledons.html

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Posted on Gizmodo a few days ago I thought this short was a cleverly written piece of scifi with well executed fxs.

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Info-dump. Large chunk of indigestible expository matter intended to explain the background situation.

So is it called an Endless Rand when you dedicate 60 pages to a speech?

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Having gone through a great workshop last fall (Viable Paradise, for those who care to look it up), I thought this was a fun read. We didn’t use most of these terms, but the descriptions are familiar comments that came out of the various readings.

One thing in particular I’ve been thinking about lately is the info dump. An author can actually get away with massive amounts of info dumping once they’ve gotten readers to buy into their story. I’ve been catching up on the “Ring of Fire” series by Eric Flint about a time-traveling town from West Virginia that lands in Germany during the 30’s year war, and the current book - The Bavarian Crisis - consists almost entirely of huge swaths of info dumps. And though I sometimes find it boring, I’m so invested now in the world and the characters that I put up with it and somewhat enjoy the history lessons.

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