Do story tellers need to tell you everything?

[the-pi-guy]

Should everything be answered at the end of a story?  Are there some things that are okay for the writer to skip?  

[Xevross]

Depends on what the writers are going for. I'd say often the best answer is no.

Having some questions left open is a great thing.

[Legend]

Should everything be answered at the end of a story?  Are there some things that are okay for the writer to skip?  

They need to make it seem like they at least know the answers.

JJ Abrams for example openly admits he just makes mysteries without knowing the solutions and most of the time I really dislike that.

Skipping can be totally fine. Leaving things open for the viewer to decide is also fine, ala the original Total Recall. Just needs to be backed up by the rest of the story.

[the-pi-guy]

The reason that I made this thread is that sometimes it seems like people really hate it when a story has some loose end at the end of the story.  People will be discussing something and they really hate it because they need every little thing answered.  

"Did Bob the Builder make it home or not, we need to know!"

And other times, it seems people really love it when it happens.  


Sometimes it annoys me, because I feel like the answer to their question is obvious, and yet they start hating on the movie/game/whatever because of it.  

[Legend]

Sometimes it annoys me, because I feel like the answer to their question is obvious, and yet they start hating on the movie/game/whatever because of it.  

Oh man can I relate to this general feeling.

It's so frustrating when you watch a movie and really love some bold/unique thing they did and you hope more movies follow in its footsteps, yet other people viewed it as a negative.



Like I watched War of the planet of the apes with my family and I loved the world building and general silence of the film. You felt like you were watching real characters, not cgi apes. It also had a ton of show don't tell and you had to interpret how the apes felt based off their acting. My mom thought this was stupid and dumb  

(and also after the fact I realised that they had optional subtitles which kinda decreased the cool factor)

[Xevross]

The big one for me is Inception. When I was young I used to be so annoyed by the ending. I wanted to know what happened!!!!

But now I get why it did it, and why it was powerful to leave it open like that.

[Dr. Pezus]

Yeah I love open ending. Usually they spark so much conversation after the movie between friends which is fun.

[the-pi-guy]

Yeah I love open ending. Usually they spark so much conversation after the movie between friends which is fun.

Yeah.  It's awesome when the story gives some indication to speculate.  

The big one for me is Inception. When I was young I used to be so annoyed by the ending. I wanted to know what happened!!!!

But now I get why it did it, and why it was powerful to leave it open like that.

Love Inception.  
I was also talking to someone about Bloodborne, which is like the story of not telling you anything about the story.
At that level, it's easy to be frustrated or even not realize there was a story.  

Your Name I think is really cool, there's a couple of things that aren't explained.  So a lot of people get frustrated.  "Why didn't they notice X?" That movie is fun because you find out that you didn't notice X either.  

Although some people still find it frustrating.  

[Legend]

I was also talking to someone about Bloodborne, which is like the story of not telling you anything about the story.
At that level, it's easy to be frustrated or even not realize there was a story.  

I love stuff like that but it works so much better in video games than books or films.

In game you can interact with the environment and are essentially in charge of investigating for yourself. The writers have created this deep and complex world and you need to sort it out for yourself.

Kinda works in movies but it's held back by the fact it has to be displayed on screen for everyone and you can't go at your own pace.

Near impossible to do in books since the writer draws attention to everything they mention.

[the-pi-guy]

I love stuff like that but it works so much better in video games than books or films.

In game you can interact with the environment and are essentially in charge of investigating for yourself. The writers have created this deep and complex world and you need to sort it out for yourself.

Yeah.  I love the way Bloodborne did it.  There's a complicated (almost convoluted story), but it's so easy to walk away from the game without knowing any of it.  

[Dr. Pezus]

I love stuff like that but it works so much better in video games than books or films.


Near impossible to do in books since the writer draws attention to everything they mention.

Unless it's told from the protagonists point of view only

[BananaKing]

Do they need to tell us everything straight away and in a direct manner? No. But should they have all questions answered? I think so. Maybe even if you have to figure it out or maybe have some sort of clues or hints.

[the-pi-guy]

Unless it's told from the protagonists point of view only

The big thing that games can do is that you scatter stuff around the world like notebooks that are easy to miss.  

In order to do the same thing in movies, you can put stuff in the background.

But for a book, probably the easiest way is to have stuff put in that basically has two meanings. But it's hard to give stuff like that a lot of depth.  You can certainly do it, but in comparison to movies/games, you really have to go out of your way to do it.  

[Dr. Pezus]

The big thing that games can do is that you scatter stuff around the world like notebooks that are easy to miss.  

In order to do the same thing in movies, you can put stuff in the background.

But for a book, probably the easiest way is to have stuff put in that basically has two meanings. But it's hard to give stuff like that a lot of depth.  You can certainly do it, but in comparison to movies/games, you really have to go out of your way to do it.  

Or you can have a protagonists who knows little in the beginning and learns things as he goes along

[the-pi-guy]

Or you can have a protagonists who knows little in the beginning and learns things as he goes along

We're talking about a story that doesn't tell you things.  
Like you can get to the end of the book and not even realize that there was a story.