The Surprising Effect of Too Much Clarity in a Story

Did you know there’s such a thing as an author being too clear? Most of the time, we worry our heads off to ensure our stories are clear enough. (One of my first questions to beta readers and critique partners is always, “Were you ever confused?”) After all, a story that doesn’t make sense will be ditched, if for no other reason than it’s simply too difficult for readers to bother slogging through the murk.

As a result, it’s easy for us to go all paranoid and start thinking we need to spell out every little thing. Especially if we’re writing a story set in a foreign milieu—a different country, a different time, or just a super-detailed subculture such as the military—we’re going to have readers who are unfamiliar with what we’re talking about. So we go to some trouble to spell it out. But this is where the surprising effect of too much clarity can become a problem.

As much as readers appreciate clarity, they also like to be treated like intelligent adults. Particularly if they already have some grasp of your subject matter (and for every ignorant reader, there will be an educated one), they’re going to want the satisfaction of seeing their own knowledge in action.

For example, I recently read a science-fiction story that employed a good bit of nautical terminology. As someone who loves historical naval stories, of the ilk of Aubrey/Maturin and Horatio Hornblower, I found this very satisfying. What I didn’t find so satisfying was that every one of these terms was explained to me, which severely mitigated my own pleasure at having recognized the terms and their meanings.

Authors must walk the line of making foreign concepts clear from the context for readers who aren’t in the know, without talking down to readers who are familiar with the subject.

Wordplayers, tell me your opinions! How do you keep from talking down to readers? Tell me in the comments!