So, as a refresher, or for those who have no clue, my novel is a medieval fantasy type story with lots of mythological beasts and a sprinkling of magic. There is a lot of backstory I've written regarding the origin of the dragon my MC rides, plus how that origin ties into her family history and the reveal of who MC's real father is. Problem is, the main plot is already pretty much wrapped up, so I'm into the final scenes of the novel and I'm not sure how much info-dumping my readers will take at this point. Plus, you know, massive info-dump = bad. So how much to work in? And how to do it? I mean, the whole "MC...I am your father" bit can easily be a scene between MC and daddy-o,(bc dad has figured it out) but then how to address the history of the dragon and it's subsequent tie-in to MC's newly-discovered family? Daddy-o doesn't know that information. Perhaps the dragon could help (he talks telepathically to MC)? Do they go to a dragon or human scholar? We're talking quite a bit of history here, and the morphing of a word in the original language into the last name of the current family leading to a big revelation of some of the particulars of MC's bloodline and why she can do what she can do regarding magic and riding dragons. (Most people can't ride dragons). This is key to my wrap-up of Sub-Plot B and I am so stuck. Help?
Hard to say without reading your ms lol. As you say you are finishing the final chapters I might ask the following (rhetorical). How many questions remain unanswered appertaining to the plot? Does the reader still need answers? Do the characters still need answers. In other words, do you intend to use a conclusion as one of your final chapters? Are you going to leave questions open? (is there a sequel) Definitely hard to say as the final chapters are as critical as the first and as I am sure you are aware, there is so much that needs to be dealt with other than the info dump. Whatever you do, make sure you finish the book as strongly as possible. I will try and answer your question here: If you avoid the info dumps you risk telling only part of the story. If you use narrative info dumps it can be done but you are talking about a very high skill factor to keep the reader invested. I am talking about Tolkien type of skills, not easy by any stretch of the imagination. The obvious answer would be to show and not tell but that is a little bit like using a bomb to crack a nut. Probably the best tool is dialogue, mixed with some narrative and a light sprinkle of show. Space is at a premium in the final chapters and in my experience, I always feel like I am running out of road. Fast! Anyway, that is my thoughts, hope they help and good luck!
In general, you include only what the reader needs to know to understand the story and you show, don't tell as much as possible. Finish the story, then go back in revision and figure out if there's anything else the reader needs. If the reader needs to know about dragon riding, figure out how to work that information in. If they don't need to know about dragon riding, don't bring it up.
Who in your story could relay the information? Might be weird for the dragon to do it, even though he is telepathic. Dumbledore was pretty handy for dropping info dumps, and Hagrid. Hmm, maybe you need a cast of dumpers! Thing is they can't just rock up and spill the beans so to speak, it would have to be a fairly significant character. I have one in my story's. Can't do without them. Maybe they can make a late entry, not sure.
The only reason Dumbledore and Hagrid were useful was because Harry was an idiot toward the beginning of the books. He knew nothing and had to have everything explained to him, which helped the readers because they didn't know anything either. If you can set up an ignorant person in your story, you can have info dumps at strategic places and it might work. Just don't go around trying to explain things to people who already know them so the reader can get up to speed.
Agreed @Cephus. All of this takes experience through trial and error. Experience that should be gained prior to publishing. A point that will not be lost on many.
Uh, let's see. There's obviously communication through speaking and having a prologue. Other options might include...uh...finding an object with some important fact on it, seeing a magical vision, or finding a terse note which is then explained by another character Or, if you're planning sequels, have the character not find out most of the information at all. Maybe just enough to get going, but the full explanation is somewhere out there, allowing you to shunt all this information forwards.
