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Q&A Protagonist constantly has to have long words explained to her. Will this get tedious?

A while back, I redrafted my NaNoWriMo 2017 story, but it still needs another draft. This question is about one of the concerns I have. The story takes place in a medieval fantasy setting, and the...

1 answer  ·  posted 6y ago by F1Krazy‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

#4: Attribution notice removed by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-12T21:42:33Z (about 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/42470
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T10:58:34Z (about 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/42470
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by (deleted user) · 2019-12-08T10:58:34Z (about 5 years ago)
A while back, I redrafted my NaNoWriMo 2017 story, but it still needs another draft. This question is about one of the concerns I have.

The story takes place in a medieval fantasy setting, and the protagonist is a homeless orphan of about fourteen. As a result, she has a somewhat limited education, and at various points has to have long or complex words explained to her. At first I inserted these moments in order to underscore her limited education, but I kept on inserting them in order to pad things out just that little bit more.

An example: the villain, whose thieves' guild the protagonist has infiltrated, is describing their master plan, and refers to a "network of clandestine tunnels" under the city. The protagonist's partner notices her confusion, leans over, and whispers, "'Clandestine' means 'secret'".

I don't have access to the full draft right now, but off the top of my head, this happens at least six times in the space of 41,000 words, including once during what's supposed to be a very dramatic and emotional climax. I'm worrying that this is too frequent, and that it might get tedious or distract from the story somewhat. **Will it?** Or am I overthinking it?

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2019-02-22T13:24:05Z (almost 6 years ago)
Original score: 17