2026-15: Revelations

An interesting question from an editing client the other day has sent my brain into overdrive: how do I know how much to reveal in this particular scene?

My initial answer, which I didn’t voice, was “as much as you need to.” I stumbled for a bit, describing the particulars as it related to that story and that particular moment within it. Working together, we got that scene into a really good place.

But when it comes to revealing information the reader or protagonist doesn’t know…well, how do you know what “as much as you need to” really means?

It starts, really, with the desired pace of the story. If you’re building a slow burn, you need a steady drip to slowly increase the gas feeding that flame. If you’re looking for something more frenetic and action-oriented, it may be worth dumping the details out faster to get to throw the reader right into the repercussions of those reveals.

Then, think about what a particular scene is trying to accomplish. I’ve written before about setting goals for each scene (I think), and that strategy plays well here. If you’re just trying to get your main characters moving and clarify the stakes a bit, provide the information necessary to drive those outcomes. If you want to completely break a character and give the reader all the feels at once, bring the new information in hard and fast.

Like so many other things in writing, deciding when to communicate what is a precise balancing act. The needs of the scene need to be considered in relation to the goals of the broader piece. There is, unfortunately, no one-size fits all solution here.

And that’s also why we have multiple drafts. Sometimes, you just need to pick a direction and see how it works.

Epilogue

As of this writing, my beloved Boston Red Sox have finally won two games in a row and a series. I still believe. That first week and a half was so bad that such a talented group couldn’t not bounce back.

I also a little tired of the ABS challenge system. Talk about something else, please, all commentators of every game.

I’m making slow but steady progress on my new sci fi novella. I’ve decided each chapter is going to have both a title and an intro quote—things I just haven’t really done before, mostly because I never thought to.

Til next week!