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Q&A Explain character dynamics without giving away too much backstory?

I would have a third party explain the situation. This character, M, says, "we can't get L and S on the same webchat because L won't talk to S since the day." Readers will be clued that there is "...

posted 6y ago by Tom Au‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

Answer
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T06:51:04Z (over 4 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/29589
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by user avatar Tom Au‭ · 2019-12-08T06:51:04Z (over 4 years ago)
I would have a third party explain the situation. This character, M, says, "we can't get L and S on the same webchat because L won't talk to S since the day."

Readers will be clued that there is "something wrong" between L and S, and will be waiting to find out what it is. The resulting suspense could actually be better for your story than to have L and S confront each other early on.

Or, as one of my former bosses would say, "Tell me what, before telling me why."

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2017-08-06T23:02:43Z (over 6 years ago)
Original score: 1