Monday, September 17, 2012

Keep Consistent Rules

The most frustrating thing I find in storytelling is inconsistency. Especially in serious work (as opposed to comedy), I don't care what rules you establish, but keep those rules consistent. If you tell me that people can jump 20 feet in the air with ease, then don't put something in a tree and have the character tell me that it's out of reach. Your character shouldn't even imagine something tree-height being out of reach.

The biggest issue I have is when people get thrown with great force. They always leave human-shaped holes in concrete or brick walls, which is completely ludicrous by real-world physics (that much force would turn a human into jelly). But even if we live in a world where the human body can actually withstand that kind of force, or maybe if bricks are just that weak, then any time a person every tries to commit suicide by jumping off a building, they should do nothing but leave a crater on the ground and remain in tact, even if sore (which would make a mind-blowing scene for a meta story).

People are willing to believe a lot of things. When you're the master, you say something is true and people will accept it. But when you say something is true, and then you personally break that rule, you will lose your audience and their trust.

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