Young Writers Society

I'm having huge problems with my sci-fi story. It's the beginning. I have rewritten it hundreds of times, but nothing seems to work the way I want it to, mostly because I infodump. Infodumping just takes the reader out of the story, especially if it's really preachy. But I just can't find a way of starting my story without providing the reader with a long explanation about the character's backstory. I feel that if the story isn't set properly and the reader isn't 100% sure of what is going on, then I can't continue. But how do I set the story without infodumping? I read somewhere that it's okay to provide your reader with only the information they need to know, and the rest can come later when necessary. But in my opinion, that would leave my readers confused.

Here is a brief outline of the beginning of my story.

The entire story is set on another universe, which was discovered by a space station from Earth. The universe is smaller than our own. There is just one planet, sun and moon. The planet happens to be an idyllic environment for humans (it would be pretty pointless to write about a planet that nobody can go on).

The story begins thirteen years after the planet was discovered. So far there is only one civilization on the planet. A village full of scientists who study the planet all day long, basically. The story starts the day it all changes for the main character. The m/c is a teenage boy who was born and raised on the new planet. His parents are scientists (pretty much everyone plays an important role, there are no civilians like on Earth).

That is the general setting, but here is the conflict.

A highly contagious virus has spread throughout the village, and quickly wipes out most of the population. The m/c is watching everyone around him die. His parents become infected, but before they die, too, the m/c panics and begins searching around the village for help, but all he can see around him are dead people, or dying people.

But then the m/c finds the villain of the story-the captain of the space station which found the new planet thirteen years ago. The captain kidnaps the m/c and takes him aboard the space station, and they leave behind all the dying people, including the m/c's parents. That's pretty much chapter one.

Also, I am faced with another dilemma. The second chapter is set four years after the first, when the m/c is sixteen and living on the space station he was forced onto. Now, I really hate stories which jump into the future, but that's just the way the story goes. Nothing interesting happens after the m/c is kidnapped, until four years later when he suddenly finds himself back on the planet.

So yeah, that's a pretty confusing plot. How do I start my story without infodumping? I can't just begin the story on a strange planet without explaining it convincingly. And I also have to explain the situation they're all facing, the onslaught of the deadly virus. It's too much explaining to do, I just want to start the freakin' story.

So, if you're still reading at this point, please help, I would really appreciate it, because I'm totally stuck.

Thanks,

Evil.

Well this may not be a great help, but I think there's a common fear of infodumping. I'm not saying it's ok to infodump all the time, but look at David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest; that's almost entirely infodumping over 1000 pages, and yet it's still a loved book by many. Sometimes infodumping can have a negative impact, but I think that only comes with inexperience and the infodumping isn't entirely necessary or helpful. As long you're making the dumping interesting and readable, you'll probably be fine.

Hmm, sounds a bit like Orson Scott Card's Ender series. You may want to watch out for too many similarities.

But, with regards the plot:

You *could* do it with a flashback/dream and start the story in his current place. That would solve the problem of the time jump, but flashbacks are sometimes just as annoying.

As for the info-drops, they get me too sometimes. And it's hard to avoid them, but there are ways. (And besides, they aren't ALWAYS bad, especially if they are spread out and not in huge clumps that incourage skimming.)

For example, let's say you start with the character going about his everyday life, and you want to do a long explanation of how old the colony is, what the people are like, etc. So, make him see a monument of the shuttle that brought them there, or an inscription on the wall. Maybe he mentions that a few people are getting old, and they may have to have their first funeral. You have an extra challenge here because the MC can't be older than twelve or so.

Or, maybe he just passes some scientific types who ignore him. Or have him notice the weather. There are ways. I don't really know how to help you beyond that because I haven't read the story, but these are just some ideas.

Hope it helps a bit. Good luck!

Lupis

The dream/flashback is a good suggestion, but I'd be careful with that. Dream scenes don't go well all the time and it might be easier to find other ways. Same with flashbacks. Both are too gimmicky, imo.

Being able to lace background information into the story at hand is a good trick to learn. Since the part you described as your first chapter isn't (if I read correctly) the important, beginning conflict for the story, starting there is a bad idea. You want to start your novel with the conflict at hand, whatever triggers the major conflict of your story. The back story is important, but it's not important to the major conflict (sorta) it's only important to the MC.

You could start when he comes back to the planet, talk about how he forgets so much, but also remembers a lot. Explain what happened before. If done properly, it isn't as bad as info dumping. It can be well written; you just have to be careful.

You might just also want to think about when do you really want to/need to start your story. What is the primary thing you need to talk about? I've read somewhere that stories should start when something in the character's life changes drastically. That may be when his parents die and he gets kidnapped - but if nothing happens as a result of that, then that isn't what you're going for. So if it's him coming back to the planet, and that causes other things to happen (chain reaction to the main conflict) then you're spot on with where to start. Who knows, it might be neither of those parts.

Good luck!

Thanks for the help, everyone. I have a clearer idea of what I want to do now.

Suzanne, that makes a whole lot of sense. I will try writing from when he returns to the planet. His back story is important to him, but isn't important to the major conflict, like you said, so maybe I will have more luck with your idea.

Thanks again,

Evil