When writing a story, it’s necessary to give your readers information. They need to know what’s happening, who your characters are, where they are, and why they’re doing what they’re doing.

Delivering that information can be done in various ways, all of which are great elements to mix throughout your book to keep things interesting. And here are the options that you can use to do that!

Writing A Book: Information Delivery Elements

Narrative

Narrative writing will be the info-delivery element you’ll use the most. It’s the blow-by-blow steps of your characters in the present moment, and it’s writing that moves swiftly.

The key to narrative writing is not to summarize anything that’s happening, and to put the reader in your character’s head. You can use writing tricks like internal thoughts and the actions of your characters to do this.

Description

Description is a necessary part of any book and it helps your readers picture characters and settings, as well as paint a visual for objects and places.

When it comes to using description to deliver info, it will slow down the momentum of your story. Sometimes, you need that pause so your characters and readers can get their bearings, though. Because of this, use description sparingly but effectively.

It’s an important story element to include and to get the balance right. Too much description and you risk boring the reader, but too little and they won’t be able to picture anything or absorb the info you’d like them to.

Exposition

You’ll know this element as the time when you’re delivering any factual info to your readers.

This can be done via one character explaining things to another, the reading of an article or scientific paper, or an overheard/watched news report. Think back to any book you’ve read when a character has to cook a recipe, change the oil in a car, or download an app to their phone. Exposition is the slow burn of imparting factual knowledge.

It’s straightforward and may read like a manual if you’re not careful. It also brings any action/momentum to a standstill, but it’s a necessary part of any book, so don’t shy away from it.

Dramatic Summary

If you want info delivered fast, a dramatic summary is your go-to.

This is where the car chase happens, or the diamond ring vanishes from the countess’s hand as she greets guests at the ball.

It is not the time to play out these events moment by moment, but to summarize them dramatically. Speed and movement are what you want. It adds drama and urgency and will have your readers unable to put the book down until they know what happens.

Dialogue

Our final, but not forgotten, info delivery element is good old dialogue.

This is one of the best elements of storytelling. With dialogue, you can reveal twists, create a villain monologue, have a tense back and forth that’s shocking, emotional, or cathartic, and provide precious info in one fell swoop.

To move things along, keep the chatter snappy. But if you want it to make a big impact, draw it out in just the right way, e.g. a character badgering another for a secret, getting them to give clues as the conversation goes on, and then ending the scene with one last line of dialogue that reveals all!

To boost your dialogue, mix it with action beats and internal thoughts, and you’ll create yet another essential skill for your writing arsenal.

Use all or some of these information delivery elements in your book and get the right info to your readers when they need it the most.

— K.M. Allan

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