PART 3 – Always Ask Yourself

                                Does it advance the story?

                                Does it enhance the story?

                                Is it redundant?

Writers find ways to advance their story by dropping new bits of information or enhancing the story by giving a terrific description of a person, place or thing, but do they ever check to see if they visited the same place too many times or discussed the same bit of business in their story with way too many other characters?  When that happens too often it starts feeling like the writer ran out of material and is just filling up a few blank pages.

In the old Murder She Wrote episodes, good ol’ Jessica Fletcher would drop a clue early on during any given episode only to remember that incident later and realize it was, indeed, a clue to the killer. Now you might call that procedure “redundant” since it happened in every episode, but if you were a fan and watched a lot of the re-runs you would probably be looking for those hints at the beginning of the show and see if you can catch the clue before Jessica does.

I’ve been watching the old episodes and actually watch for those subtle hints so I can beat Jessica to the killer.  They do a good job having all the actors in any given episode give subtle looks that might indicate they are the bad guy, but since all of the actors do it, you have to pay closer attention to what each person says both before and after the killing. But they seldom trudge over the same clue or drag in the same person more than once. Therefore, there is no redundancy as such.

As for what a writer should do, unless you’re writing a TV series where every episode is a carbon copy of the previous one, don’t keep throwing out the same bits of information. Figure a way to move the story along with something innovative like a new character or take the main characters in a different direction even if it’s a dead end. That’s a better use of those words you’re putting on paper.

Even redundancies as simple as having all the conversations happen around the same dinner table or office desk or even the neighborhood bar or restaurant gets old. Maybe try taking your characters for a walk in the woods or for a drive in the country. The fresh air or different scenery will be a nice background for new revelations.

Even if the characters are trapped in a cabin in the woods during a snowstorm, let the people find a quiet corner, or the sofa in front of the fireplace, or maybe have your characters climb a ladder up to the attic for some quiet conversation. Just don’t have them constantly returning to the same place. As they say: “Been there. Done that.”

Your goal isn’t to say the same thing in half a dozen different ways. It’s to say new stuff. See new things. Meet new characters. Say new stuff…See new things…Meet new characters…Say new stuff…See new things…Meet new characters…

Remember the point of this post: Don’t repeat yourself.  Write On!