Update

[wyntir_knight]

I'm trying to get back into writing something focused. I managed 50K in NaNo, but as is usually the case with NaNo, the output is less than usable. So I'm going back through my works in progress and trying to finish a partially completed fic. Chapter 3 of the You Remind Me Of Someone I Used To Know fic that I haven't updated since 2016. I know what I need to do with the chapter, I just have no idea of how to get to where I need to be.

I think the problem is that I need to add an info dump. And I hate info dumps. The premise I'm facing is this: At some point before Ratchet joined the Autobots and while he and Smokescreen were still "dating", the Institute was destroyed and Smokey was presumed dead. The Council used the destruction of the school as an excuse to lock down harder and one of the many things they locked down was prostitution. The truth is that Smokey wasn't at school when it was destroyed and the Council hadn't stopped prostitution, instead they centralised it under their direct control (read: pleasure bots as spies, assassins, and gifts). There's a lot of world building I need to do and it's become seriously intimidating. This isn't just some random what-if any more. This is an entire AU.

I just wish I felt more comfortable in my abilities to tell the story that I have in my head.

Comments

Well ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

One way to handle infodumps is to break them down. Are your characters comfortable talking about their problems? If not, it's very natural to write that infodump one fragment at a time as it gets squeezed or pried out of them. I have several characters who can rarely make it more than a few sentences of deep shit before they melt down and stop talking. It avoids the Wall of Exposition ... and keeps readers hungry for more.

This has the advantage of letting you tackle the material one small piece at a time. The main drawback is that you need some way of tracking what you have and have not revealed. But that's a challenge in any longfic.

Re: Well ...

[wyntir_knight]

Thank you so much for the suggestion. I'm still fighting with the fic, but I'm starting to write the info dump down and then I plan on breaking it down appropriately. Now that things are generally going better, I'm hoping to get more completed this year.

Re: Well ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

I hope you make lots of progress!