Ik in novels you kinda live inside the MCs head and experience the word through them. They give you everything. You know exactly how the MC is feeling at all times
Personally I like just enough insight to have a basic understanding of who they are and interpret how they feel and analyze the story through their words and actions
I wanna feel like I’m figuring out the MC. Learning them as a person as if I was in the verse studying and observing their life. I don’t want to feel like I’m inside of their brain with all the answers.
I wanna know Nyarai is flustered because of the way her words are choked. The way she’s nervously rubbing her arm. The way she is avoiding eye contact and maybe a one line thought along the lines of “wait…what is happening”
A 200 words analysis on why she’s flustered doesn’t fell right to me. Idk that could be the TV/Movie watcher in me. When you watch something you don’t get that level of insight you get what you see and you have to do the rest. You have to form that mental/ emotional analysis. The answers aren’t given to you right away.
In books, they give you the full analysis because you don’t get the visuals (Which definitely makes sense), but if you describe the visuals, do I need the full emotional analysis?
It feels like I’m insulting the readers ability to comprehend and analyze information. If the mood is set and described, body language and actions are detailed along with purposeful dialogue, what else do I need?
I want readers to paint the pictures themselves. I don’t want to spoon feed them everything. I just want to give them the canvas, the paint and the brushes and let them do the rest.
Ninth Hour Fiction 