Spell it out or leave it vague?

[ChromedOutCortex]

Hey Folks - Question for you.

When you're writing a story, do you spell everything out or do you leave things vague and let the reader "fill in the blanks".

For example in one story I wrote, the protagonist wrote letters to his kids and gave them to his ex-wife but I never said whether she gave them to their kids or not. I sort of  wanted the reader to make that determination themselves based on how I had written the ex-wife and subsequent chapter.

Should I have spelled it out? How do you handle those types of situations in your stories.

[LJCC]

2 hours ago, ChromedOutCortex said:

I wrote, the protagonist wrote letters to his kids and gave them to his ex-wife but I never said whether she gave them to their kids or not. I sort of  wanted the reader to make that determination themselves based on how I had written the ex-wife and subsequent chapter.

Is that scene part of the plot—subplot, major plot?

If not, then why focus on something that is trivial if it's not something deemed important?

[Krista]

17 hours ago, ChromedOutCortex said:

Hey Folks - Question for you.

When you're writing a story, do you spell everything out or do you leave things vague and let the reader "fill in the blanks".

For example in one story I wrote, the protagonist wrote letters to his kids and gave them to his ex-wife but I never said whether she gave them to their kids or not. I sort of  wanted the reader to make that determination themselves based on how I had written the ex-wife and subsequent chapter.

Should I have spelled it out? How do you handle those types of situations in your stories.

Need more context, like @LJCC asked, if it is part of the plot OR important character arc development with the Ex-wife, then it is very possible that it needs further explanation and context within the writing. 

Generally speaking, if it is something that develops your story, plot, or a character then leaving it open-ended and vague may just lead to confusion down the road. If you want to guide your reader in a very distinct direction/mis direction, or what have you, then your clues cannot be or stay open-ended or too open to interpretation. If you're wanting to create a mystery, by all means keep your clues vague, masked, and such, but there needs to be enough, 'meat/bread crumbs' for the readers. The only way readers can feel the impact is if they are properly invested and if they're not, you've lost them. 

Edited February 21, 2025 by Krista

[ChromedOutCortex]

Thanks - it was part of the sub-plot, and the more I think about it, I probably should have mentioned it in the story.

Thanks!

[FV2112]

I feel like it depends on the context of the scene. The way that I write, I naturally tend to spell more things out, but every so often I'll re-read something I've written, whether it's a line or a paragraph or even whole sections of a whole chapter, erase some of the more excess details and be like "holy shit this sounds so much better" 

[Jason Rimbaud]

I can't offer any better advice than those above me.  In terms of mysteries, thrillers, people tend not to like a solution that comes out of left field. Being vague is perfectly fine if you use hints, clues, that makes sense after the reveal. 

In a story I am currently editing, the author included many seemingly throw away details in dialogue throughout the entire narrative. So when his big reveal happened in Chapter 35, I could see all the hints, clues, he had been discreetly divulging. It was a great payoff. 

I think readers actually like when the author pulls those types of reveals, the trail was there but the reader didn't pick up on those details. What I think the reader really dislikes, when the solution had no set up, no foreshadowing, and then we get every ending to Perry Mason. 

Perry Mason was a legal drama in the 1960's, in the last five minutes, the brilliant lawyer would have a gotcha moment where he catches the bad guy after thirty minutes of suspecting the wrong person. I've seen all of them and even after multiple re-watches and knowing the ending, I can't see when the lawyer got that information that nailed the bad guy or girl. 

Anyway, my pointless two cents. 

[ChromedOutCortex]

On 2/25/2025 at 8:53 PM, Jason Rimbaud said:

I can't offer any better advice than those above me.  In terms of mysteries, thrillers, people tend not to like a solution that comes out of left field. Being vague is perfectly fine if you use hints, clues, that makes sense after the reveal. 

In a story I am currently editing, the author included many seemingly throw away details in dialogue throughout the entire narrative. So when his big reveal happened in Chapter 35, I could see all the hints, clues, he had been discreetly divulging. It was a great payoff. 

I think readers actually like when the author pulls those types of reveals, the trail was there but the reader didn't pick up on those details. What I think the reader really dislikes, when the solution had no set up, no foreshadowing, and then we get every ending to Perry Mason. 

Perry Mason was a legal drama in the 1960's, in the last five minutes, the brilliant lawyer would have a gotcha moment where he catches the bad guy after thirty minutes of suspecting the wrong person. I've seen all of them and even after multiple re-watches and knowing the ending, I can't see when the lawyer got that information that nailed the bad guy or girl. 

Anyway, my pointless two cents. 

Perry Mason - Aaaah, got it. Yeah, sometimes (depending on the story) I hate the reveal at the very end; and while I get it's not real-life, you are trying to mimic it within your story and nobody ever solves anything in the last five minutes. You end up building to that ending.

Thanks for sharing that! I'm working on a murder mystery (never written anything like that - way out of my depth, I'm sure) and I'm having to put everything on whiteboards and maps to make sure I don't mess something up and drop hints along the way.

[Jason Rimbaud]

2 hours ago, ChromedOutCortex said:

Perry Mason - Aaaah, got it. Yeah, sometimes (depending on the story) I hate the reveal at the very end; and while I get it's not real-life, you are trying to mimic it within your story and nobody ever solves anything in the last five minutes. You end up building to that ending.

Thanks for sharing that! I'm working on a murder mystery (never written anything like that - way out of my depth, I'm sure) and I'm having to put everything on whiteboards and maps to make sure I don't mess something up and drop hints along the way.

I would love to be able to write a mystery story. I have attempted to write them but my tiny brain can not make it a mystery or good. I gave up long time ago. Just as I want to write a western so badly I can taste it, but all my attempts have failed. So all m ybest thougths go out to you. 

[FV2112]

1 hour ago, Jason Rimbaud said:

I would love to be able to write a mystery story. I have attempted to write them but my tiny brain can not make it a mystery or good. I gave up long time ago. Just as I want to write a western so badly I can taste it, but all my attempts have failed. So all m ybest thougths go out to you. 

You know what they say...the only way youll get better is if you keep on doing it. My early attempts at writing were My Immortal and Sonic High School levels of bad lol.

[Jason Rimbaud]

44 minutes ago, FV2112 said:

You know what they say...the only way youll get better is if you keep on doing it. My early attempts at writing were My Immortal and Sonic High School levels of bad lol.

Thank you for that. But I don't think I'll ever try writing another mystery story. My brain doesn't think that way. As for westerns, I might try again down the road. 

J