If a plot is relatively complex it is sometimes difficult to give readers enough information for them to understand the background to or the implications of actions or relationships or both. Writers joke about “Info Dumps”.

In order to give background information which helps the reader or viewer’s comprehension,the bad guy’s will sometimes brag about their sinister schemes to a helpless hero.

This device was used in many of the James Bond films.

The apparent motivation is usually to show how clever they are, and justification for doing it is that as the hero will soon be dead there is no harm in telling him(or her) every detail of the evil plan.

Stories concerned with unearthing a mystery will often include extended discussion about the facts to hand and the implications. This is the reason that detectives, all the way back to the original Sherlock Holmes had a friend or associate with whom thought process, observations and conclusions could be shared.

The technical term  for the release of this kind of information is “Exposition”.

In the Austin Powers Series, which perhaps had too many writers “in jokes”, there was a character named “Basil Exposition” whose only role was to info dump, deliberately as a parody of the provision of a lot of background information in one concentrated sequence.

The opposite to “info dumping” and therefore admirable from a writers point of view is “Incluing”. In this process the information required is distributed seamlessly throughout the text, as opposed to stopping the story to give the necessary information. The key word here is required!

Some information is necessary for readers to understand the world of the story. It is how much information is provided and how that information is delivered that is the issue.

Our “Insights” under “Ximene’s World” provide an opportunity to share additional information, perhaps more than is strictly necessary, certainly more that will be included in Ximene’s stories but all relevant to an understanding of  my motivation for writing about Ximene or a desire to immerse yourself deeply in her world. They will tell you little about the plot but much about the world in which Ximene finds herself and the background to many of the things Ximene believes.

Much of my information has been drawn from the internet but a substantial amount has come from published books.  It is my intention to give information on all my sources.