Quantum Storytelling

When I began writing I swore that I would not infodump in an excessive manner. So how do you impart background world information? You inclue it;

“Incluing is a technique of world building, in which the reader is gradually exposed to background information about the world in which a story is set.”

OR:

“The process of scattering information seamlessly through the text, as opposed to stopping the story to impart the information.”

As a gamer, I’ve always had a natural appreciation for incluing. There are a multitude of examples in my favorite games, such as Half-Life, Fallout, and Oblivion. Because games are an interactive medium, they naturally inclue information to the player by distributing it throughout the world.

Fiction writers don’t have it so easy. The world is not revealed in an interactive manner, and so it is harder to inclue items about the world in a subtle fashion.

I have an odd solution to this, given I’m creating a metaseries media franchise.

For example, a murder occurs in Story A, and a news item about that murder occurs in Story B. Cross-referencing is a great way to inclue while also creating a sense of depth to your franchise as a whole. Long-running TV series such as Stargate SG-1 often reference past events in the form of inclues, although SG-1 does its share of infodumping as well.

How do you inclue? Well I’m not certain what will work for you, but I’ll tell you what works for me. Occasionally in thinking about my sci-fi world details, I’ll think of references I can plant from one story to another. It could be a major event. It could be as simple as a press release by a corporation. No, of course you don’t batter the reader with the entire press release — that would be infodumping. Instead you have it on the TV in the background while the character is moving past an electronics shop. The character catches the snippet in media res.

Better yet, use it in your bar scene. There are always TVs in bars, showing sports, news, or what have you. That is the perfect time to give the reader an inclue. What should it be? Preferably something related to the story at hand, but if not then a quick flash about something from one of your other stories makes a nice cross-reference, and at least an easter-egg.

An easy way to bring inclues into your fiction is to use other media within your fiction. You can use news or radio broadcasts, advertisements, billboards, magazines — any form of media that exists in the real world surely has to exist within yours. These are perfect frames to give the reader more information about your world as a brief inclue nugget.

They might hear it on the radio station, or read it in a book via a Frame Story or even a fictional fictional character.

When you think of a cross-reference or inclue, write it down. You won’t remember it later. Keep a wishlist of possible inclues for your story, and incorporate them into your story once you find the appropriate scene for them.

Incluing is a powerful device, especially for sci-fi, fantasy writers, or anyone who has done a significant amount of world-building. Enjoy!