hi, im not a writer but i was wondering why this is a common thing in stories/movies? is it to arouse interest? it seems often details or answers are left out at the time being, and than at a later point you go Ohh but its kinda confusing and annoying at the moment itself? anyone know what i mean?
yes, and i can recall one time i do it in my book. it is confusing but ill just put the clip here- "Don't you find it strange? True Shifter's dont'-" that is said by a guard talking about one of my chars. though you can guess what it's about in the book, it is a nice cut-off from the memory its derived from.
Personally, and I imagine that it wouldn't be so common if most people disagreed, I find that "As You Know" conversations - where characters "remind" each other of things that they obviously know already, and are only doing it because they are characters is a story that the audience doesn't know everything about rather than because they as people have any in-story reason to tell each other - to be more annoying than having to wait for details.
It's called an open loop. By posing a question and not giving an answer, you create curiosity in the reader. They've got some bits of the puzzle but not the final few that makes everything fit together, so they keep reading to complete the picture. As with all things, it's possible to overuse, and it works on some people better than others. But on the whole, give someone a puzzle and they'll want to see the solution. It's used in advertising a lot as well.
