Why too much detail destroys screenplay description – and pisses readers off
I just finished slogging my way through another script as a judge for a screenplay competition.
Yes, slogging. It was painful. It was boring. Frankly, I couldn’t finish it. I gave it a “pass”.
Because the writer gave me too much description.
Exactly how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop
The screenwriter told us just how many steps a character took to cross a room (11), whether the couch was on the right or the left of the doorway (left), how many seconds a dog barked (5), and precisely how much space is between the lights in an alleyway (30 meters). I learned that the kitchen table is rectangular, and how big it is (approximately 33 inches by 60 inches).
I wanted to shoot myself in the head. For the record, this is not how you want to make your reader feel. Continue reading What bad science fiction can teach us about writing screenplay description