Questions for readers in the story

[Zinless]

I read that people need questions to keep interest in the story, so keeping things unknown to be revealed later is great. But I'm confused on how much should be unknown to the reader. Enough for the readers themselves to guess the truth? Or should it be very vague to surprise them with the truth?

So far, the questions in my story are:
-How strong are the MCs eyes and ears?
-What is the secret organization planning?
-What is that girl planning?
-What made the prince hate the princess?
-Where is the next chapter?
-It's been a month author, where is it?

All of them are vague at the moment.

What makes a good question for the reader? Will focusing on short term questions for each arc work? I would like your opinion, thanks!

 

[LAJistics]

Intersperse short term questions in with some subtle hints towards your long term plot. Makes reading each chapter feel like it'll lead up to something big.

 

[Prince_Azmiran_Myrian]

Whenever you answer one question, try to let it raise new questions. This can be considered progression towards the biggest questions for the story.

 

[FiendsForHire]

I agree that there should be both short term and long term questions and payoffs. Short term to reward the reader for continuing to read and long term so they have something to really look forward to and theorize about

 

[Fang_Yuan]

I read that people need questions to keep interest in the story, so keeping things unknown to be revealed later is great. But I'm confused on how much should be unknown to the reader. Enough for the readers themselves to guess the truth? Or should it be very vague to surprise them with the truth?

So far, the questions in my story are:
-How strong are the MCs eyes and ears?
-What is the secret organization planning?
-What is that girl planning?
-What made the prince hate the princess?
-Where is the next chapter?
-It's been a month author, where is it?

All of them are vague at the moment.

What makes a good question for the reader? Will focusing on short term questions for each arc work? I would like your opinion, than

I read that people need questions to keep interest in the story, so keeping things unknown to be revealed later is great. But I'm confused on how much should be unknown to the reader. Enough for the readers themselves to guess the truth? Or should it be very vague to surprise them with the truth?

So far, the questions in my story are:
-How strong are the MCs eyes and ears?
-What is the secret organization planning?
-What is that girl planning?
-What made the prince hate the princess?
-Where is the next chapter?
-It's been a month author, where is it?

All of them are vague at the moment.

What makes a good question for the reader? Will focusing on short term questions for each arc work? I would like your opinion, thanks!

It's very simple, what's unnecessary and necessary? If it's unimportant for the plot, don't delay too long to answer it. If it's big reveal, obviously only leave subtle hints or red herring. But I don't know. I do this subconsciously by looking at the story in the eyes of a reader.

 

[RepresentingCaution]

As you write, the answers often present themselves. You may also have an answer in you mind that changes as the words flow.

 

[TheEldritchGod]

The only question you need is the one you put in the reader's head. What ever it is, the answer should be in your book.

If it isn't a question they care what the answer is, it is a bad question.

 

[J_Chemist]

You want to keep a veil over your reader's eyes when it comes to your main objectives. Don't give them the answers to the plot. Don't give them answers to all of the enemies/threats to your MC. Don't give them answers to the potential decisions your MC might have to make.

But, you want to give them enough information to make the story believable. The decisions that your MC makes must be able to be justified by their prior knowledge and actions. The movements and results of your Villian characters need to be understood based on their prior setup, their goals, and the tools/supplies available to them. By the end, your reader should be able to nod along with what is happening and say "this makes sense. I get this is why this happened" and "I know why the MC did this because they did that".

Curve balls help when you want to add spice or if you need to apply sudden difficulty. They should not be used as "plot armor". I made this mistake and it was very apparent, which actually hurt my story initially.

An example of this is LOTR when mankind is trapped within Helm's Deep. Mordor's forces are knocking on the door. Humanity and its allies are on the brink. Any longer and they'll perish, but they hold out using every tool within the castle. Each tool they use we believe because we expect it and we can justify it. The Orcs don't pull out random bullshit to attack the castle but utilize tools and soldiers we've seen before in the story- trolls, their trebuchets, etc. When Gandalf appears with his reinforcements, it's not "plot armor" to save the Keep. It's already been explained earlier that so long as the Keep can hold, he will appear with aid. Come morning, the Keep holds. Gandalf appears. RIP Saruman's army.

Take out some details, like Gandalf saying what he's going to do and just running off. Or throw some random tools into the hands of either army, add in maybe the Main Characters doing some unrealistic "HAIYAH" bullshittery, and all of a sudden the battle is just foreplay with a ruined climax.