One of the first rules of storytelling in general is : Keep it simple!
This seems easy at first glance, but most writer have lived in their story for a long time (even before they have ever written a word of it down) and thus naturally know way more about anything and everything that occurs and appears. This is not true for the reader.
And that is where the conflict arises; the reader can only know what you write and only understand what you explain or what has been hinted at often and clearly enough. If a story is too complex, if characters are too complicated the reader won't (usually) be able to 'get it', they cannot identify with the h