Re: Stop "Summing Up" Your Characters
This is a much bigger issue than picking apart a single example, although of course it's a good idea to highlight some to demonstrate the point.
The thing is, when people use that as a style choice, they don't do it once. They do it for EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. FOR. EVERY. SINGLE. CHARACTER. (See how I did that? Annoying isn't it?)
I read a script chock full of these very recently. Great story, fun characters, but I started skipping the intro/summaries to see what the character actually DID. I almost didn't keep reading because I started heckling the author in my head. What life story is this minor-character-that-barely-needs-a-name going to get? Etc.
Overwriting is annoying. Just tell the story.
This is a much bigger issue than picking apart a single example, although of course it's a good idea to highlight some to demonstrate the point.
The thing is, when people use that as a style choice, they don't do it once. They do it for EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. FOR. EVERY. SINGLE. CHARACTER. (See how I did that? Annoying isn't it?)
I read a script chock full of these very recently. Great story, fun characters, but I started skipping the intro/summaries to see what the character actually DID. I almost didn't keep reading because I started heckling the author in my head. What life story is this minor-character-that-barely-needs-a-name going to get? Etc.
Overwriting is annoying. Just tell the story.
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