{
"post": {
"title": "How do you explain character abilities without making it sound like an info-dump?",
"selftext": "As the title says, i've been working on something that has a lot of characters with unique abilities, but i'm not sure how to incorporate the explanations of each and every character's abilities without making it sound like an info-dump, especially because it ruins the realism of the story considering no one would actually explain their abilities in detail to their enemies.",
"url": "https://www.reddit.com/r/worldbuilding/comments/14fysgc/how_do_you_explain_character_abilities_without/"
},
"comments": [
{
"body": "Show, don't tell.\n\nHave you characters use those abilities, and occasionally go \"Sorry, that's not something I can do\" or \"It doesn't work that way\" to show the limits of their power.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "That's a good one. Something I also like is showing how other people see what's happening, like this:\n\n \"After she chanted for a few moments she lifted her head and her eyes were shaped as lotus flowers. Then I saw her energy emerge from the ground and form huge glowing petals around her, which suddendly bursted into light and flew at the creature, cutting through its flesh and bones and scattering its pieces at the ground\"\n\nThe flower thing was the character's magic \"signature\" something I wrote into my world that shows how the magic is unique to each person and, for the advanced users who are able to manifest it, will mirror their inner nature."
},
{
"body": "It's also a great opportunity for \"tell don't show\" too\n\nLet the character hype up their ability without actually showing whether they can really do what they say or not. It will be quite satisfying when they finally use it.\n\nBut don't forget to actually use it at some point. Chekhov's abilities are great, inferred abilites are not.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "I'm not sure that's \"telling instead of showing,\" because you're showing the character's personality without just telling the reader that they're arrogant or over confident or the kind of person who constantly toots their own horn, and sometimes that kind of show boating can be fun and, yes, satisfying, if the character can back it up. And sometimes satisfying if they *can't* back it up and they were super annoying about it lol.\n\nTelling would be just outright stating what the power does in the prose, rather than character dialogue. Dialogue is one of the cheapest options for hiding an info dump. Doesn't always work, but can.\n\nIt should be specified that you really only want to tell instead of showing when you want to de-emphasize something.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "Fair, talking is an action after all. Telling can be done in dialogue though if it's just pure exposition. A character talking about their - or someone else's - ability might show us their character, but it tells us their ability. Telling and showing aren't exclusive. And telling isn't the cardinal sin many writing coaches make it out to be.\n\nSometimes it's better to establish something through simply telling it to the audience instead of dedicating a whole scene to showing it. Unnecessary flashbacks are a good example. You don't need to show a scene of two side characters meeting at school to establish they went to the same school. \"He recognized her as his former classmate\" is more than enough.\n\nBut yes, you wouldn't want to establish a major plotpoint that way. Telling is better suited to give context and it shouldn't overstay its welcome. Generally, show don't tell is a good rule."
}
]
}
]
},
{
"body": "This!!!! Show, never tell!",
"replies": [
{
"body": "I wouldn't be an absolutist about it, there are certainly cases where telling works. As long as you don't chokehold the audience with information, and you don't pause the flow of the story."
},
{
"body": "It's a story. You will be telling a lot no matter what you do."
},
{
"body": "No offense but this is wrong. There are absolutely moments when writing calls for telling. Show, don't tell is not a hard rule."
}
]
},
{
"body": "came here to say just this."
}
]
},
{
"body": "Have them use the power. When the audience wants to know about something, you can use as plain language as you'd like. You should still be concise, but if the audience wants to know how it works, they won't mind you explaining it"
},
{
"body": "Just like with games and incorporating a tutorial or back story, it’s all about framing it right and context. Several different ways to do it depending on your writing ( first person narrator vs third person, omniscient, untrustworthy etc). \n\nDialogue between characters is probably the most basic way but can be tricky to do it right. Don’t want too much exposition or info dump. You can frame some important facts into a prologue or intro chapter. If your using an omniscient narrator you can use him/her to go on sidebars to explain some things. Or like with a video game you can make it action based and set scenes involving them using their powers early in book, and using these scenes to help give the reader context into what they don’t know. Hope that helps. \nThere’s tons of ways to do it. Reading some books would be a good way to find how other authors worked it in. \nOne of my favorite uses of first person omniscient narrators was The Name of the Wind. Red Rising was also another well done first person that used the narrator to explain backstory. If I think of any in third person I will add but it’s early and I haven’t had coffee."
},
{
"body": "I am writing an encyclopedia alongside the story.\n\nBut the most natural way is a character naturally and sensible asking 'how the fuck does that work?' and then the person explains it in a way that suits their character. Focus on how it feels to have it, not how it looks. You can describe how it looks by showing how it looks."
},
{
"body": "Have the characters explain their abilities to their allies. \n\nFor example, if someone is immune to fire, their allies should know that, so they don't try to shield that person from an enemy fireball. \n\nAlso, you can just use the abilities, and then have them fail in some situations. Like, if someone can walk on water, but not stand on it, then you can just show that by having the character keep walking until they're back on shore, or sink as soon as they stop. \n\nAnd you can have their enemies try and figure out how those abilities work, and then test different ways of getting around it.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "The allies standing by/sitting on the bleachers explain the ability instead for true anime feel.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "Wish I could explain my world or characters through a 30 minute internal monologue. :'c"
}
]
},
{
"body": "Showing it from an enemy perspective and then figuring it out sounds interesting."
}
]
},
{
"body": "Explain it as it happens."
},
{
"body": "How much do you need to explain? \n\nFor example in my RPG campaign there is an NPC called Emma. We first met Emma when she was sneaking about. Apparently with some supernatural aid. Seems obvious. She can make others ignore her or something. An \"angel\" called her \"The Lorebearer\" though. So something more is probably going on.\n\nI'm not sure if the actual explanation will ever become relevant. The character might feature more into a future arc. If not she can stay Sneaky + Angel Calls Her Titles."
},
{
"body": "Short descriptions, no in-depth explanations except when this is utterly essential. Also changing perspective helps, which becomes subjective and misses some details. Example:\n\n\"He swiftly moved his hand, and in the very moment several strings moved out of it and disappeared. A sound of the dropped ceramic vial was heard while the opponent dropped moveless.\"\n\nNo details, just what a witness could see or hear. What were the strings? What was dropped? Is it really a vial or something else (there is a difference in sound, so adding this detail was needed)? Was it even related? Further those questions may be answered in the same or more elaborated manner."
},
{
"body": "Combination of feeding things out over time and show dont tell. Personally I write down a scenario where one character info dumps 100% of the information, then I review it and take only the part that is critical at that moment, usually only a sentence or two, then you save the rest for a later situation. For instance, when my mentor character tests the MCs ability to Infuse his magic, she explains the concept of higher level infusion. There is a hell of a lot more to it than \"It lets you cast a spell through mana flux and gives you control over it\" But thats all the audience needs to know at that specific moment."
},
{
"body": "The abilities don’t get talked about, until the character No longer has them. Such as when Atmos got wounded, but he was not described as repairing his hull quickly, instead he was described as beginning to leak coolant profusely. This was due to the fact that his Nanite reserves had been expended after floating in the vacuum of space for 400 years."
},
{
"body": "It heavily depends on the medium. If it's a written story, then you can use alternate first person perspectives to have the current character discuss their abilities. Bonus points if they get to learn more about their abilities as the stories go on.\n\n* example 1: \"I can feel the surge of power as I get closer to the fire. Like the fire is becoming an extension of me, or maybe I'm becoming an extension of the fire. Either way, I reach out and connect to the flames, and like a painter with their brush, I begin to weave the flames.\"\n\n* example 2: \"I could feel their heartbeats more than I could hear them, which was a new sensation. Every pulse was a small thrum in my own chest, filling the void where my own heart once beat. But that was before the accident. Before I woke up again in this new state. Before the sun burned and the night held me in its cool embrace. And as I focused on that heartbeat, the rest of my senses sharpened and zeroed me in on my next meal.\"\n\n* example 3: \"Simon had the single most frustraoability out of the whole group. Sam could fly, Kyle had super strength, I could speak to animals and even \"borrow\" their traits, but Simon could just disappear. Even if you were looking right at him, the moment your attention slipped for even the tiniest sliver of time, he was gone. Of course it was only when he wanted to, but he sometimes stated that it wasn't always voluntary either. Like a homing pigeon, Simon just knew when your attention lapsed and that was all he needed. Naturally, it made him GREAT at being covert. But man, was it frustrating.\""
},
{
"body": "Note that \"Show, don't tell,\" doesn't mean don't use dialogue in the story. That's still showing the reader through character action (a more acceptable way for an infodump if the *character* is getting one).\n\nThat being said, demonstrate things. If the powers are new, have the character explore them over time, and find out what the proper limits are.\n\nNote: if your story or setting is obviously one that has various abilities and powers (like a superhero setting), your readers will grant that the powers exist and depend on you showing them what they are. So make your story the comic book of action, rather than the wiki that explains everything."
},
{
"body": "Show them using the abilities. During a moment of stress have someone ask them to do something their abilities won’t allow and maybe throw in a little quip about how “it doesn’t work that way!” You can use explaining powers as a vehicle for comedy if you wish. Someone can rattle off ideas to them and use that to show them getting more and more frustrated because “that’s not how it works.” By showing how it doesn’t work, you can in a way show how it does work"
},
{
"body": "Just show the characters doing the things they can do. \n\nThere wouldn't be a point, for example, in explaining a character's laser vision, if nobody is actually going to be shooting lasers with their eyes. \n\nThere's very little you need to \"explain.\" Readers or viewers don't need to know the minutiae of every ability. \n\nYou can have all that detail in your own notes. But in the project people will be looking at, I think it's best to focus on what matters."
},
{
"body": "I don’t, I literally drop a detailed explanation within paranthesis right after the ability. And I’ll go more in detail afterward if needed.\n\nEx:\n\n-------\nThis fool wanted me next? Maybe I’ll have to tag my father out on this one, and show my uncle how the world truly works.\n\n“Control Elemental: Metal Warping.” (*Metal Warping: An ability that warps metal to the users will, of which they control, moving it in multiple directions or altering its shape to make something new.*)\n\nAllevec warped Neil’s sword, forcing the iron blade to bend around and point at Neil’s head, the guard of the sword was also warped to lock Neil’s hands to the sword.\n\n“You should take a permanent nap brother. Don’t worry though, I’ll take good care of your family.”",
"replies": [
{
"body": "How has this been received? In books this is a very uncommon way of doing things. Some might accuse it of breaking the flow of the story, though obviously it all depends on how it's used. It's very anime-esque, and while I like anime I don't think anime tropes translate well to books usually.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "Its been extremely well received, considering I’m my only target audience lol. No but in all seriousness, I have no idea. I write for my own entertainment and don't actively promote my works, though they are publicly available to be read for free. According to my link though, its been clicked about 500 times (not including my own clicks), so I assume some people have at least seen my work. Whether they like it or not is unknown to me, and I have no real desire to know. It probably does break the story, though its never bothered me honestly.\n\nI will say though, that my writing style is unlikely to be appealing to most readers. I’m a very direct person, and like straightforward explanations (if an explanation is given), I don’t like details with a lot of hyperbole if its true meaning can’t be easily interpreted (being too vague). I’m a very picky writer lol, but I constantly update and read my own works and am always entertained by them, so in my eyes, I couldn’t be happier.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "Well, perfect, then, hahaha. That's all one can really ask for. I'm the same. Even if no one reads my stuff I'm happy to write for myself.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "It's an ideology I love to see."
}
]
}
]
}
]
}
]
},
{
"body": "Frankly, you don't - either you info dump or you don't explain the ability, especially if you're concerned about realism. \n\nIn practical terms, if you've built a successful hard magic system, then the entire book is contributing to explaining every character's abilities, so you don't have to info-dump for each specific ability. For sake of example, imagine if your magic system was literally Magic the Gathering, and your shiny new villain's special ability was summoning angels. You could explain that just by telling the reader that this character has the \"Big Angel\" card, which is a 4WW 6/6 with flying, vigilance and trample. The character's actual ability also includes all the rules of MTG that define what all those words mean and how they interact with every other \"ability\", but because the reader already understands the rules of MTG, they don't need all that re-explaining. This is how stories that have lots of abilities and care about how those abilities work tend to be written - each new ability expands upon the knowledge the reader has already gained.\n\nAnd if you *haven't* got a core system you can call back to to explain how abilities work, then what you have is a soft magic system, in which case explaining the powers is just to help with suspension of disbelief a little and you don't strictly need the reader to understand exactly how they work, so you don't need to info dump."
},
{
"body": "Its something I would info dump, unless you want to do a clever reveal. Nothing more annoying that a character *suddenly revealing* they had a new power when its suddenly needed to win"
},
{
"body": "Show, don't tell. Works every time"
},
{
"body": "Have a character who is really, really, really into the power system and explain everything woth great passion.\n\nPeople will tell you \"show, don't tell\" but if Shonen battles didn't stop for a hot minute after an unorthodox attack, we won't be able to tell what they are doing"
},
{
"body": "You don't need to explain it right away. If your world has powers, the readers will often accept that a character can just... Do something. The explanation can come later at a natural time, or through actual use of the power. No need to rush it."
},
{
"body": "Show not tell and you can have history rhyme and the character's responses to current events hint at their own experience with such"
},
{
"body": "Rumor has it. When powerful people use powers, everyone talks. The story of that crazy event gets a little different, a little grander. The dichotomy of real vs story created an opportunity to subvert expectations, use dialogue to show, and show there's a world beyond your protagonist."
},
{
"body": "Show them when used in an ordinary life task, explain the power system and have the opponent try to deduct what kind of ability he has to counter attack."
},
{
"body": "It's hard. Lots of comments making it seem simple. It's not. There is nuance, pacing, throwing in potentially new terms etc. It's going to take re-writes to get the clunkiness out. Showing how powers interact with the world is the best path but it's by no means easy."
},
{
"body": "Let them find out themselves. Like, discover their own abilities. Dunno if that possibility applies to your characters though. Mine had been forbidden the knowledge of powers they could use, so when they found out, they tested what was possible."
},
{
"body": "There are several ways in writing.\n\nAs a literary device, you could have an audience surrogate character, a character that's about as new to everything as the real world audience is. He'll ask questions to get info as everything is unknown to him, just like the reader. This would usually be the main character or a main character at least.\n\nYou could have them just tell eachother what they can and can't do to coordinate team work, or maybe they get drunk and start boasting and do drinking games with their powers.\n\nYou could have a character with detailed dossiers on them read through them to get the info to the audience while literally being an in-character data dump.\n\nYou could just not explain it and have an appendix like Dune or a footnote.\n\nOr just naturally build up their list of what they can or can't do, but doing so can sometimes feel a bit deus ex machina if there was no foreshadowing of what they can do."
},
{
"body": "Break it up into the story and only mention how they use their abilities when they actually use them."
},
{
"body": "Infodumping isn’t as bad as people make it out to be and is a natural way of communication for some people. Sincerely, an autistic reader and writer."
},
{
"body": "Info-dumps about powers won't necessarily sink your book, look at all those shounen battle manga many times they'll pause in the middle of battle to explain how their powers work and many of them are pretty popular. \n\nTo answer your question though, have your characters test out their abilities. Mistborn does this well. The mentor teaches the MC about alamancy by having her use them during a heist, combining story progression with exposition."
},
{
"body": "Try to do explain it like a tutorial"
},
{
"body": "Training montage.\n\nHave the character do some training, maybe with another character, and have them show off this power to said character and by extension the audience."
},
{
"body": "Explain them by using them, and only when relevant.\n\nThis, of course, runs into a potential problem of looking like an ass-pull, so make sure subsequent uses of their abilities flow from some premise or power source established at the initial use of special abilities."
},
{
"body": "\\-> \"I can stylishly jump three times my height, you know?\"\n\n\\-> Character Mccharactish crouched for a second too long and without a single hair out of place, he was now standing on top of the balcony. Seemingly reading my thoughts, the physics-unridden bastard grinned: \"Hi there\"\n\nYou can also use inferring btw... For example, if you show that most people people can do X, you show character A doing/having Y, and its mentioned that A is subject to Z, then you can do the math."
},
{
"body": "Show dont tell. Also try and make ability limitations reasonable rather than random. Anybody could say \"the abilities limitation is that it makes you tired\" or \"the ability only has a range of 10 meters\", or some kind of pokemon style weakness where it doesnt work on an element. The best limitations are ones that make sense."
},
{
"body": "You can have the characters not know so that some else needs to explain it to them and thus the audience. Some examples are Harry Potter, Star Wars, ATLA, and most stories with a mentor character."
},
{
"body": "Ik ppl keep saying show don’t tell and that is good advice but I’d say do both. Show some and tell some. Like if you’d like to show it start with a fight scene but you can have the fight end before some and not all get to show off their abilities. And you can save them for later or a simple explanation. Like using my abilities here wouldn’t have been useful to us or it might have put you guys in danger or something like that and then create a scenario where they can then use their abilities. That way the reader gets the abilities in increments so they can remember them better. \nIf one of them is antagonist you can also have the protagonist figure out how their abilities work as well"
},
{
"body": "I thinking showcasing the abilities and letting the reader figure it out on their own is the most engaging way to find out. Ex. Gets pushed off a cliff, levitates. Alternatively, maybe a research group examining the character can give an analysis?"
},
{
"body": "For example: My character uses different colour fires but instead of saying \"I can use red fire for heat, blue to tourture.\" i say for example Bobs hands began to glow and a small scorching blue fire left his hand as he threw the flame at Frank. Then later.... Bob waved his hand at the wood and a red flame cracked and popped as the wood caught fire. \"That's so useful\" David replied. \n\ni suppose show how they do it, why they do it, whats the limitations etc. Not just\n\"I have a blue flame for torture. Red is for fire. Yellow is for a light.\" Its boringly dreadful."
},
{
"body": "It really depends on the tone you're going for. Like. One Piece is full of this. People just talking out loud about the special powers of such and such character, and it works. \n\nOtherwise yeah, put them in a scenario that forces them to use their abilities up front, before they're really make-or-break narratively."
},
{
"body": "Since I use a lot of unique unorthodox abilities like turning plastic into alien plant life and become intangible against really fast moving attacks/objects, my characters have difficulties describing their powers in word and often just have to give demonstration."
},
{
"body": "Have you heard of show don't tell, as well as illustration? I don't mean drawing, I mean the writing concept."
},
{
"body": "You should describe those abilities in action. That way, it's not an info-dump, it's a presentation; show, don't tell.\n\nOr, you could have the character use the ability, but write the scene from another character's POV, who may not be familiar with the ability, and can ask questions about it. That way, the info-dump is organic."
},
{
"body": "I have one document that details (in depth) how their power works, how it feels, what they can and can’t do, etc. and then when they use their power in the story, they’re using it to their capabilities.\n\nYou can also mention what the wish they could do with their power — how they wish they were stronger or had a bigger range, or could turn their power off (if it’s on all the time). Other characters ofc can also ask things or assume things about the power. The character will most likely also have past memories of experimenting w their power, so you can incorporate this into their thoughts. They’ll most likely also have strengths/ weaknesses which can be used in fight scenes/ to get out of situations or will hinder them in getting out of these situations, so show this."
},
{
"body": "Use generalizations. A classic example of this is One Piece. Luffy is a rubber-man. Buggy is a split-man. Etc, etc. That's...basically all we get for anybody until its time for them to use their powers.\n\nThe *system* is explained more clearly, but you don't need to dump someone's full-kit on an introduction. We simply don't need to know.\n\nIn a book I'm reading, the current psuedo-antagonist is code-named Arachne and is part of an organization that gives generalizations as code-names. All we know prior to her current fight with the protagonist is that she uses webbing, has a high-level and comes from that organization. Absolutely no surprises when she jumps into the fray except for the chekov-black-boxes we knew were coming."
},
{
"body": "Either I show 'em off in a fight, or just them using them. Like if someone can fly, I have them fly around instead of using stairs, walking, etc. Or have them brag a bit, and then someone say something, but I don't do it more than once or twice. Like, \"I can make fire, loser.\" \"But you can't control it, moron.\" \"Stfu.\""
},
{
"body": "As other people have suggested, show don't tell is almost always a good rule of thumb to think about. \n\nBut if not, try to make the \"telling\" have meaning and content in-and-of itself. For instance, if someone is talking about their own abilities, then how they do it and how much they give away can tell us things about their character. If someone is talking about someone else's abilities, then how they describe it can tell us about the speaking character, and also how the other person is perceived usually. Maybe you could have different variations, such as one person figuring out how another person's powers work before they should now, which gives us a glimpse into how that character's mind works.\n\nFor ideas, maybe think about how different people abilities are revealed to us in real life? If you had a classmate who's really good with a guitar, how did you find out? Things like that."
},
{
"body": "I love info-dumps"
},
{
"body": "Put them in situations where they have to use them and let the reader see for themselves what they can do. If there's a specific weakness, drawback, or limitation that you want explained, make sure that it comes up in that situation they're in so the reader can also see that."
},
{
"body": "Let audience figure that shit out"
}
]
}