Balancing overexplaining and underexplaining
- LV Ditchkus
- 6 days ago
- 2 min read
Updated: 1 day ago

A craft flaw that many authors struggle with is how to strike a balance between what is overexplained and underexplained in your story. Let me clarify by giving a few examples:
Overexplaining (i.e., repeating information that should be obvious from other text)
“Why would you help us?” He glared at me as if trying to read my intent through my eyes.
The reader should know the glare comes from the character being suspicious. It would be better to simply say: “Why would you help us?” He glared at me.
The robot lunged at him. He rolled to the side, heart pounding. He was scared.
It would be better to rely on the action rather than to tell he’s scared. Something like: The robot lunged. He rolled, breath catching in his throat. Don’t freeze now.
Under explaining (i.e., when the reader doesn’t have enough information to understand)
She watched the colony ship explode. She turned away and started walking.
These sentences do not provide sufficient details to understand the character's feelings about this event. This revised statement includes enough to help the reader: The blast painted her in blue fire. Her lungs emptied, not from the heat—but from the hollow inside her. She kept walking, because stopping would mean breaking.
He went to the funeral, then sold the house.
Again, there is not sufficient detail for the reader to know what’s happening. Here’s a more detailed example: After his father’s funeral, the house felt like a museum of someone else's life. He packed what little mattered and sold it within the month.
But how do you know when you’ve overexplained versus underexplained in your own work?
Consider these steps:
Ask yourself for each paragraph or detail if the reader needs this right now to understand what’s happening. If I remove it, does the scene still work?
Modify where you’ve explained an emotion. Rather, show how a character reacts (e.g., fidgeting, hesitating, or avoiding eye contact).
Use dialogue, actions, and setting to imply information.
Don’t list everything to paint the picture, only what you need to create tone, mood, scene, or character. You get a lot more context from saying: Her frayed denim jacket still smelled faintly of motor oil. Rather than: She wore a blue shirt, jeans, and had brown hair.
My advice about overexplaining and underexplaining? Trust your reader. Readers don’t need everything spelled out. Let them fill in emotional gaps, backstories, or motives, as long as they have enough context to do so.
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