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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/30008
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/30008
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

If the explanation is interesting, the reader will not notice that is is long. If it is not interesting, breaking it up will not make it interesting.

So forget about whether it is too long and focus on whether or not it is interesting. The reader may be interested in explanation for one of three reasons:

1. They are interested in the thing being explained. When you explain weapons in a thriller or forensic procedure in a mystery, many readers will be interested in these things independent of their role in the story.

2. They are interested because the explanation is so gripping that it creates interest simply because it is so good. 

3. They are interested because the explanation makes the story make sense. 

It is important to get the order of things right with these. You may want to give an explanation up front in order to make the story make sense when the reader gets to it. This is not a case of number 3. For number 3 to apply, the reader has to already be in the story and sufficiently committed to it that they are hungry for the explanation so that they can go on with the story. If you want the explanation to come before the story, then you have to make it either number 1 or number 2.

Number 1 requires knowing your audience and knowing your stuff.

Number 2 requires being a genius.

Original score: 3