Failure ModesFoundational
Info Dump
A passage delivers world or backstory without scene pressure.
Principle
Information without need does not retain.
Takeaways
- Distribute exposition across scene.
- Pressure the information against character desire or conflict.
- If a paragraph could be cut without loss, the reader did not need it.
Overview
An info dump is a stretch of exposition — history, magic system, backstory, geography — delivered detached from scene pressure. It produces unread paragraphs and tonal sag.
Examples
- A character explains the political system to no one in particular.
- A chapter pauses to summarise three centuries of magic.
- A protagonist remembers a long backstory unprompted.