Dear Writer,
In this week’s episode of “Endless,” the Sandman podcast I do with writer and DC Comics editor Alisa Kwitney, Kwits lit my brain up in the middle of the podcast when she quoted Neil Gaiman as saying, “The smarter you think your audience is, the smarter they’ll think you are.”
Writer, I love this. It not just elevates our readers, who deserve it after decades of being constantly maligned and underestimated by the “lowest common denominator” theory of entertainment, but it also liberates us as writers.
We don’t need to explain everything. As a matter of fact, we should explain as little as possible*. As Gaiman says, according to Kwits, “Let the reader make the connection.” Not only does it start your relationship with your reader off on a solid footing, it makes your reader your partner, not your charge.
You are in this together.
Everything,
L
*Don’t worry. Your beta readers will tell you if something needs clarifying.