ViewUpHere wrote:
4- Every sentence must do one of two things—reveal character or advance the action.
That's incomplete. In my film making classes, they drill something very similar to that into our heads. It applies to scenes in the context of film making, but each little element in a scene (characters, dialogue, frame composition, props, etc.) can be akin to each sentence in a book. It's actually, in it's complete form:
1. Orient the Viewer - Give the audience something to ground them in the story and with the characters, usually a physical setting.
2. Reveal Character - Give the audience some information about the characters, whether that's through their actions or dialogue.
3. Advance the Plot - Give the audience information that keeps the story moving and contributes to the story arc as a whole.
If each scene doesn't do at least one of those three things, and each sentence doesn't contribute to that goal, it doesn't belong in there.
Thanks for writing this, Zokk. I like this clarification a lot. (See? Now I wish I'd taken film classes in school!)
24 Jun 2011, 11:23 am
