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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/29574
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/29574
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Character dynamics come through story. There really isn't another way. You can simply tell the story in brief form to establish the dynamic, or you can dramatize it in full, but in the end, character dynamics come through story. There really isn't another way.

Now, you can certainly observe behavior without revealing the source of that behavior. This can work well enough if your main character is trying to figure out why two other people don't like each other, or even why some other character does not like him. This is simple enough to do. You simply describe their behavior towards each other. The question is, will this annoy the reader? If figuring out the animosity is part of the MCs arc, then the reader is likely going to accept it (unless the MC is being artificially dense in order to slow down the reveal). But if figuring it out is not part of the character's arc, why not simply tell the reader now?

Remember that the only function of a story is to give pleasure to a reader. It exists for no other purpose. There are many different kinds of pleasure that a story can give, and some of them do depend on withholding information (a whodunit, for instance). But for the most part, artificially withholding information that the reader wants to know is just going to annoy or bore the reader, and chances are they won't keep reading long enough to get to your reveal, however much of a big deal you think it is going to be.

Original score: 5