Infodumps good for First Draft?

[Netardapope]

So, I did something with my manuscript a few minutes ago. For the first time, I deliberately infodumped.

Now, let me make things clear. In my first draft, I intend to avoid infodumps at all costs. Writing is more fun when you try to make a good job of it. The caveat is, I find infodumps are a good way to skip scenes or worldbuilding that would otherwise break the pace of writing the first draft. So, what I do is that when I see a scene that is taking too long or have a piece of info that should have been given chapters ago, I bust out the good ol' text wall.

Naturally, I intend to kill these once I revise. In the context of my current situation, I used it to describe a series of events that would been better structured through foreshadowing or another scene. The former was too late to add in and the latter would have just been my characters getting dressed for a party and havig boring conversations.

This is time I don't want to waste. Another factor could be how this book is coming out far longer than it should be. That being said, I figured it would be wiser to keep the current structure of the story, and worry about word count later down the line.

So what do you think? Are infodumps a reliable way of skipping scenes that would have other wise been tedious in the first draft? Or will it result in a manuscript that is harder to revise?

As always, I look forward to your opinions.

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[Penpilot]

I don't know if it will make it easier or difficult to revise, but for me. when I'm just not feeling it, I throw caution to wind and just vomit out what ever comes to mind in regards to what's going on.

I tell like a tattletale and I start kicking over barrels of purple. What it does for me is it gets or attempts to get certain things out of my head and onto the page--may that be world building, character background, character motivation, etc. Once it's there, I can work with it, move it around, or eventually just erase it.

Sometimes I just need to play in the mud to figure out what I really want to do, where I want to do it, and if I really need to do it at all. It's much easier to do that when it's on the page in front of you instead of in the nebulous cloud of ideas in your head.

 

[Steerpike]

I do the same thing. I'll throw in a stream-of-consciousness paragraph or two, or a summary of what is going to happen there, or any other place holder. It hasn't caused me any trouble during editing.

 

[Demesnedenoir]

I don't put down a wall of infodump, I tend to do a quick parenthetical (insert X babble here). A similar action is when I just want to throw down dialogue, I'll go talking heads and skip nuance and niceties until I'm in the mood to come back to it. But, I don;t think throwing down an infodump is a bad thing, so long as you don't get married to it.