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Q&A Is a parenthetical reference to a later part of the text redundant in non-fiction writing?

Yes - everything in the brackets is redundant. If you were to omit '(we will come to that later)' then the sentence would still have the same effect on the reader's mind - that of making a promise ...

posted 6y ago by robertcday‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T09:20:01Z (over 4 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/37536
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by user avatar robertcday‭ · 2019-12-08T09:20:01Z (over 4 years ago)
Yes - everything in the brackets is redundant. If you were to omit '(we will come to that later)' then the sentence would still have the same effect on the reader's mind - that of making a promise that you must fulfil.

This is because the rest of the sentence: 'The response will either be an evasion, or it will be . . .' already alludes to a future event - something that sets up an expectation in the reader's mind that it will dealt with by you further into the script.

As I'm sure you already know: setting up expectations by virtue of writing sentences that refer to something later in the text forms a contract with the reader that should not be broken, because to do so erodes trust between the two parties. Break such a promise and you may well lose your readers.

Good luck with your writing.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2018-07-10T08:37:58Z (almost 6 years ago)
Original score: 2