What we have earlier referred to as the substance of this chapter will inevitably raise questions in the mind of the reader, which condition is, of course, quite normal, and requires us to mention that among the skills that are necessary in order to effectively communicate historical understanding is the ability to rigorously maintain an awareness of questions raised in the reader's mind, for the simple reason that, should there become too many of these questions, or should they remain unanswered for too long, there is a certain strain on the mind that is as antithetical to clarity and antagonistic to comprehension as would be a single sentence that is extended beyond reason - which confusion can best be remedied by, in the one case, the answering of the question, and in the other, by coming to the end of the sentence, or, if the reader prefer, in the latter case by failing to extend the sentence beyond what the reader's awareness is able to hold, and in the former case by means of answering the question before it is asked, a method that, as this reader has not doubt deduced, we have chosen to employ in this instance (the issue of the length of a single sentence, which we had the honor to use as an example, can be considered moot due to the author's habitual terseness).
- Steven Brust, The Baron of Magister Valley, p.316
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