: Re: Protagonist constantly has to have long words explained to her. Will this get tedious? A while back, I redrafted my NaNoWriMo 2017 story, but it still needs another draft. This question is about

@LarsenBagley300

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Story actions should serve multiple purposes

There's limited space in narration to get across what you're trying to say. Sure, you can always make the story longer - and bore or annoy people. (Your stated concern.)

You say you originally introduced the explaining big words to illustrate a deficiency in your protagonist's education. That's actually a great idea. But if you reuse the need to have things explained to only reemphasize the same point, you're eventually just wasting time. Worse yet if your other characters start using overly complicated language simply so you, the author, can create opportunities to insert pedantic explanations as filler.

If something has to be defined for the protagonist, make that an opportunity to explore exactly who she is

In some stories, an AI will ask about the meaning of words like "love" or "friendship". This is not simply to show that the AI doesn't know the basic definitions of some words - it's to illustrate an ignorance of facets of the human condition. And also, perhaps, to explore our own hypocrisy about such things. (It's often very badly done...)

Dialogue about what a word means, or what an unfamiliar institution represents, can open doors for deep social commentary, as well as a humorous or shocking window into the past deprivation of the protagonist. ("Gorged? What do you mean, so full that you can't eat more? Who ever has that much to eat?")

You're underusing the technique if you're only filling space.

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