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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/23617
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Let's imagine a book where my character holds the power of light. Reason being, everyone in his country is born with telekinesis. He however, is the only one with enough grasp of the (maybe a little unrealistic) physics of that world, and that's why his light powers are so impressive.

The question is, how much should i explain these physics? Can i give a broad answer (Like "yeah i'm using telekinesis to reflect light everywhere) or should i go into detail as to how and why that works?

If i do need to go into detail, how do i make it not long and boring? I'd have to explain something a bit convoluted, but i don't want to bring the whole story to a halt to do it.

-EDIT:

Lauren linked me to a question that this is supposed a duplicate of, however, as Standback pointed out, the difference here is that he is the only person who understands this, meaning that's what makes him stand out as a character.

Understanding complex physics that literally no one else understands and using it to his advantage is what separates from everyone else. If i don't explain it, it might seem a bit Deus-ex-machina, or even worse, it might seem as if he was born with it.

Another problem with the answer to that other question is that i can't introduce a cabbagehead character because essentially, everyone is a cabbagehead. Nobody understands as much as he does, and some wouldn't even care if he explained.

So how should i do it?

Original score: 2