# Mystery in an Explanation Transfers Labor to the Reader by Bryant McGill > “Mystery can be an artistic achievement in a story; in an explanation it is often unpaid labor transferred to the reader.” > **— Bryant McGill**, *The Argument in Miniature, 2026* ## Sources and Context - **Original authored source:** [[projects/The Argument in Miniature - How I Write Quotations, Paragraphs, and Reusable Prose|The Argument in Miniature]], “The paragraph as a courtesy to the reader” (September 27, 2026). - **Exact wording:** “Mystery can be an artistic achievement in a story; in an explanation it is often unpaid labor transferred to the reader.” - **Context:** The sentence separates deliberate narrative mystery from explanatory incompleteness and names the latter as labor displaced onto the reader. ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/Simple Reminders|Simple Reminders]] - **Project:** [[projects/The Argument in Miniature - How I Write Quotations, Paragraphs, and Reusable Prose|The Argument in Miniature]] - **Project:** [[projects/The Argument in Miniature - How I Write Quotations, Paragraphs, and Reusable Prose|The Argument in Miniature]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/Reader-Side Annotation|Reader-Side Annotation]] - [[wiki/Pragmatics|Pragmatics]] ## Share on Social Media ``` “Mystery can be an artistic achievement in a story; in an explanation it is often unpaid labor transferred to the reader.” — Bryant McGill, The Argument in Miniature, 2026 https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-bryant-mcgill-explanation-transfers-reader-labor ```