Dealing With What Readers Might Not Know

Dealing With What Readers Might Not Know

A recent comment from a beta reader got me thinking. How much “explanation” do you owe your readers? I, for one, have a tendency to assume any words or terminology I know, my readers will know.

My beta reader questioned my use of the term “cutting red tape.” Now, this is something I thought was universally understood. Whether or not a reader knows the history of the term doesn’t matter as long as they know what it means. However, this particular reader...