I know it's not the end of may, but I couldn't wait for this one.
As a reader, the amount of information received at a time is very important. If I have too little, I don't understand what's going on and I don't have a connection to the book. If I have too much, I get bored and don't bother to finish it, as I already know what's going to happen. Long mysteries are very difficult to write, as the amount of information is critical. But there's something amateur authors do that drive me crazy.
They tell me everything. They give the motive, the character, the underlying hope in the action. And the worst of it is, they don't let me find it out; they have to tell me. They don't even do me the dignity of showing and letting me see and think of why they did it.
There are a few reasons not to tell outright, but my favorite one is this:
The reader reads it, thinks "So that's why!" and suddenly he's in cahoots with you. He figured out your secret message and now his pride makes him own the book. It's his book. He understands it, and no one else does. Even if these aren't conscious thoughts, most of the time they're there.
It's not easy to let go of that control, but if you do it will make your book more interesting.
So in answer to the question I posed in the title, no. Just show them. Remember the old axiom of writing: Show, don't tell.
May God go throughout you life, and may that be echoed in your reading and writing
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