Tip o' the whenever I feel like it.(Information Overload) · 10:31pm Aug 27th, 2012
There is a plague about this site, infecting every aspiring author. It crepes in slowly, as a desire for a 100,000 word novel, and then consumes their great ideas for original plots. It is none other than (Dramaticly suspensful music), "Information Overload."
When new authors read the "Show, don't Tell" section of where ever they read it, they feel compelled to write every little detail, to list every sound , to sight every smell. Take this story I was proof reading earlier:
"Standing hip level next to me, Mouse is a massive dog in every sense of the word. Not just tall, he had a bulk to him that would not be out of place on, were he human, a sumo wrestler or a pro defensive lineman that's been juicing since high school. It wasn't merely fat either from breaking into the kibble bag one too many times either but raw muscle that came from an extremely active lifestyle. I'd swear either something is in the city water, or he is part wooly mammoth." (Will not release author's user name w/o express permission)
This is about the third paragraph. I had to stop because of the confusion that ensued. Why would anyone spend so much time so early in the story discribing on how big their dog was? Wouldn't it be enough to say "Standing hip level next to me, Mouse was a massive dog." The problem with this (and it is also a symptom of information overload) is that this is a tell statement. "Mouse was a massive dog" says Mouse is a big dog. Every statement telling how big he is is redundant. If you ever find statements like that in your writing, make a metafor or simile and delete the previous statement.
It would suficeth to say "Standing hip level next to me, Mouse, my dog, was like a pro defensive linemane, who's been juiced up since hight school. There was no flab on him at all, even thought he did endulge in whole bags of kibble from time to time." This covers the topics of tall, buff, a little gluttonous, and wooly mammoth-like.
Be careful of "information overload" and your writing will be one step closer to amateur.
Always Sincerely,
The Music Man
