How Much To Reveal

Vacation has been over for awhile and I've been extremely busy. I have a new novel coming out the end of October, I've been working on the next Maeve and Kate mystery, and I have also been working with a new writer who's trying to write his first YA book.

One of the things we've been discussing is how much do you need to reveal to your reader? As a writer you know a lot about your characters, the situations, the setting, etc. Usually you know much more than you can put into the book. These past few weeks I feel as if I'm pulling hard on the reins of this writer, telling him to hold back more.

As a reader as well as a writer, I think most details should, and will, reveal themselves as the story unfolds. Though I don't write young adults novels, I don't think readers are interested in much of the banalities of every day life. That's why we're reading. We like this experience of voyeurism into someone elses experiences, which are usually going to be much more exciting than our own.

And some of the intimacies of a character's personal life are not necessary to move the story along. If there is a question of why that character is acting a certain way I think it will be revealed the more they interact with other characters and situations in the story.

While this is easy to point out to someone else, it is more difficult to keep in mind in my own writing, and I find myself also reining myself in.