One of the ways I tend to make things much harder for myself than they have to be is that I don't assume the reader will willingly suspend disbelief for me even for the smallest thing.
For example, I wrote a spec last year for a procedural, and agonized over the timeline because I had a scene where a detective questioned a witness at a museum on a Monday - but that actual museum isn't open on Mondays.
Insane, right?
The thing is - there are people in the audience who do this. I used to be a TV recapper/forum moderator and the extent to which viewers fusspot over every little thing is remarkable. I partially blame the ease with which we can re-watch. I often had to watch a show several times to do a recap, and I think any plot unravels after multiple viewings. What seemed exciting during the first watch became "wait a minute...how did he know she was dangling off the edge of that balcony?" three viewings later.
But even aside from that, they'd ask things like "Why are these characters talking in person?Real people would call or text or email." And of course - were there to be an episode where characters silently texted each other, they would complain that it was incredibly boring.
Which leads me to - Do audiences know what they want? As an audience member, I feel like answering "yes, of course we do, and it's patronizing to suggest otherwise."
But then I remember the day I came across a post lamenting that you never see movie or tv characters getting their periods, unless it's a plot point. And I think...no, of course not, these people are bonkers.
For example, I wrote a spec last year for a procedural, and agonized over the timeline because I had a scene where a detective questioned a witness at a museum on a Monday - but that actual museum isn't open on Mondays.
Insane, right?
The thing is - there are people in the audience who do this. I used to be a TV recapper/forum moderator and the extent to which viewers fusspot over every little thing is remarkable. I partially blame the ease with which we can re-watch. I often had to watch a show several times to do a recap, and I think any plot unravels after multiple viewings. What seemed exciting during the first watch became "wait a minute...how did he know she was dangling off the edge of that balcony?" three viewings later.
But even aside from that, they'd ask things like "Why are these characters talking in person?Real people would call or text or email." And of course - were there to be an episode where characters silently texted each other, they would complain that it was incredibly boring.
Which leads me to - Do audiences know what they want? As an audience member, I feel like answering "yes, of course we do, and it's patronizing to suggest otherwise."
But then I remember the day I came across a post lamenting that you never see movie or tv characters getting their periods, unless it's a plot point. And I think...no, of course not, these people are bonkers.
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