Brevity is the Soul of Wit: Mark's Resource Roundup
- Mark Bedard
- May 5, 2017
- 1 min read
When it comes to scene and/or character description, the Bard said it best: keep it brief and you’ll look all the smarter for it.
In the last post, I used some character descriptions from my pilot, BEDLAM. Truth be told, the brevity of those descriptions did not come easy. It took several passes to get them to where they are now and I’ll no doubt keep tinkering with them. Let’s be honest, who hasn’t written in passive voice, piled on adverbs and words ending in “ing”. For example, the “old Mark” would write something like this to describe a character running from a murder scene: ‘Victor is seen running furiously through the foreboding night’. This description as it appears in my pilot, NIGHTHAWKS, looks like this: ‘Victor tears up the night’. Short, sweet, paints a picture.
The secret is to always choose the most active verb that fits the scene. To put things in a short concise form can take a lot of hard work, but remember it is useless to use two words where only one is enough.
Keep on writing,
Mark
Resource Links:
Parting Thought:
“If it takes a lot of words to say what you have in mind, give it more thought.” ― Dennis Roth
Want another great opportunity to hone your craft? Why not consider the 6-week Writing Workshop presented by Slamdance in partnership with Roadmap Writers!
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