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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/20838
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

I have two characters who don't get along and are sniping at each other from the moment they meet in the book. Throughout the story, they keep ramping it up. At a certain point, one character is still attacking, but the other one just telling the other one to shut up, and the attacking character has no idea who the second character really is.

Finally, the second character snaps. He decides once and for all to set the record straight. The two characters went to school together years before the story began, and when they meet in the story, they haven't seen each other since school. The second character was a popular jock and he bullied the first character very badly.

So when the second character snaps, he decides it's time for the bully to tell the nerd about how things looked from his perspective. He talks all about not wanting to go to the school, feeling pressured by his parents, being sneered at by kids similar to the nerd. He was miserable and took it out on the nerd. He's all grown up now and he's over with high school drama.

So it's a pretty long monologue. Is it an info dump? I kind of hate info dumps, but I can't imagine this story trickling out and having the same effect in the story. I want the bully to just keep taking the insults and getting angrier, but not taking the bait. I want the guy's story to totally shock the nerd. This is the point where I want the nerd to realize that he may not be the only person with problems. Perhaps he's not the innocent victim he's always portrayed himself to be. This is the point where the nerd and bully very slowly start a strong friendship.

Original score: 3