I was discussing a script last year with a friend and found we had a differing approach to storytelling. My friend is geared towards making every aspect of the story and characters laid out in fine detail for the audience. I'm more of a mind to hint at inner turmoil and keeping a bit of mystery in play.

The example in question concerned a woman who had been raped as a child having difficulty with close relationships. My friend preferred to go into a lengthy backstory and have the female character dredge up details over conversation in a restaurant. My solution to the scene was to have the woman read a newspaper headline about a child molester going free and then have her lung her hand at the paper and claw-grab the headline right off the page. She'd temporarily be full of rage, but it would subside slowly during conversation in the restaurant.

The rape wasn't the focus of the story so I thought it best to get it out of the way fairly dramatically, but leave some doubt as to why she reacted to the headline. The audience can guess what the problem is without the character actually knowing she has a problem.

So do you put everything out in your stories in easy to understand terms or do you force the audience to analyze the character reactions without being in the character's head?

I obviously haven't read the story, but, If the rape isn't the focus of the story, why linger on it?(although, it's difficult to play down being molested).

On the other hand, I'm not sure your newspaper headline would be clear enough and may leave the reader/viewer scratching their head, if the even caught it at all.

It might be best to just get it out of the way, quick and clean. You don't have to shout it out, but make sure the reader leaves with the knowledge you want them to leave with. Maybe an overheard coversation in the background. Nothing more than that.

Am I even making sense?

Basically I'm at odds with connect-the-dot storytelling. Do you put all your cards on the table with steps A, B, C, D, E, F -or- do you go A, B, C, ?, E, F and hope your audience is clever enough to figure out the question mark?

I'm not a fan of spelling it out. Tell the audience what they NEED to know, and hint about things that give the character depth. When I'm reading, I'm much more likely to enjoy the experience if I figure things out on my own, and much more likely to identify with the characters. Same goes with film or TV.

I am in complete agreement with the landlord.

Spelling out everything for the audience is usually a bad idea, in the same way that leaving them completely clueless is a bad idea.

I'd tell you what I think but I'd rather you figure it out based on my posting history.

bump