Writing Build Up vs Spoonfeeding

[miyoga]

You could try a living glossary chapter. What I mean is, have an entry for each major character based on their progression through the story marked as "Chapter X-XX" and then hidden in a spoiler. This way, if people can't wait for the big reveal, they can have their thirst for knowledge slacked. If they prefer to wait, they can. Bonus, even if a story goes on hiatus, people can look at this (if it's been planned enough in advance) so that they can figure out what's going on in each character's head.

It isn't the best solution, and it may not even be that great of an idea, but it would give readers what they want if/when they want it because it's just a glossary chapter full of spoilers.

 

[HungrySheep]

I've experienced this many times across several of my works. It's not that a trend has bled into other genres, rather that it's a (probably) necessary evil in webnovel writing as a whole that became the norm, not exactly for the good.

Let's say a plot point happens in chapter 10, more clues will appear chapter 15, a twist in chapter 20, full explanation in chapter 25. That's a decent enough progression, but how is that in terms of actual weeks or months? If I'm a reader reading a plot twist, and the full explanation comes out the next month, then I'll have a very different reaction to it compared to a reader reading a complete book.

We don't really have an answer to this because this is a weakness of webnovels. You're aiming for an impactful reveal, but keep in mind that your reveal might be a couple of months after the crumbs were strewn. Think of that from the view of a reader. After two months, they may have dropped your story and gone elsewhere.

My personal stance is just stick with it if you believe it's best for your storytelling. The readers who really like your work will stay. The next time you do it, your readers know what's up, and will experience the story as intended. Of course, this isn't the answer if you want to reach the general audience.

Yeah, that's a really good point. I actually never looked at it from that perspective, since a five chapter gap seems so small to me as an author (chapters catch up so fast ;-;), but it's actually a 5 day wait for readers.

 

[Prince_Azmiran_Myrian]

Spoonfeeding requires less brainpower, so it is good if you are catering to a casual reader.
Otherwise, letting the readers figure it out for themselves and then revealing the truth is a fun exercise that a lot of memorable stories practice.