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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/9695
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/9695
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

I think a good rule of thumb would be: Up-front, in preparation, the story can characterize **one or two major challenges the heist will need to overcome.**

That's enough to whet the reader's appetite and to build anticipation. It's also enough to allow you to write very quick explanations _while_ the action is happening. If we know the bank is patrolled by robotic guardian leopards, then you don't need to explain ahead of time how the team is going to sneak in through the decorative fountain and then remotely detonate a catnip distraction. For these smaller details, you can shed light on the explanations as you go along with the actual action:

> We were leaking water out of our boots, but it had worked - the robo-pussies never went near the water, and hadn't noticed us. Yet.
> 
> "You ready, Brenda?" I muttered. She was taking her sweet time opening up the watertight bag. She didn't answer immediately, and for a moment, I was afraid the bag had sprung a hole, and we were all dead meat. But then she breathed out, and raised the detonator out of the bag. "High and dry," she said. "Hope the pussies like their catnip."

...and so on.

For heist scenes, the reader generally is willing to accept that he won't be privy to the full plan before it goes down. If he had to wade through all the details when the protagonists do, they'd be ridiculously boring, and then there'd be a big long heist scene which'd be boring because now the reader knows what's going to happen. So revealing the details as you go is a great way of avoiding a huge infodump, and it does a good job of conveying the suspense, the meticulous planning, the careful consideration of branching possibilities - just as they become relevant.

What you _do_ need to do is have those major obstacles in place already, familiar to the reader - otherwise you'll have your characters climbing out of the fountain and then stopping for a long explanation of robo-leopards.

Original score: 2