Learning what the reader needs to know – and when – is a vital lesson. As is learning what the reader DOESN’T need to know. In SFF, I’d suggest giving the reader a basic understanding of the background in the first 40 to 50 pages (not in big info-dumps… 1.

… but woven in via a few words here and there in POV thoughts and dialogue) so they can concentrate on the story. Don’t make everything ‘mysterious’ – that is most often confusing, not intriguing…2.

It often comes along with another problem in novels I see very regularly from newer writers: over-detailing, and adding tiny unnecessary descriptions about matters that can be taken for granted. END