Do you know what a script supervisor is?
Script supervisors sit by the director on a movie or T.V. set and take copious notes. They note the takes the director likes and they note everything else.
I mean everything. Every detail. What side an actor’s hair is parted on, what time is on the clocks in the background. Every detail is noted for consistency. This is a job you completely notice if it is done poorly, and you never notice if it is done well. A scene in a kitchen with clocks on the oven, for instance, demands the time reflects the scene time. It can’t be 7 am while I am saying my first line and 7:30 while I am saying my next line unless 30 minutes have passed. I can’t wear a ring on my left hand, and, when we continue shooting the same scene tomorrow, put it on my right.
Those things take you right out of the story, and the same is true for books.
If it is night when I open the door, it cannot be noon when I close it. If a character is in a red shirt it cannot change color in the next scene unless time has gone by or you have written the action of changing the shirt. Broken arms, limps, watches, hair color, even character’s names come into play. Have you seen “Knives Out?” There is a moment when a pair of sneakers has walked a muddy path and they are still really clean. I noticed. Did you?
Make sure you check during one of your final passes through your book before you hit send. During one edit I found I still called my second lead character, Jeff, for about 7 pages towards the end of the book. His name is Jack.
Be diligent and be your own script supervisor. You want your reader, be they an editor, agent or customer, to stay in the story. Script supervision is mandatory. As is research… check out these posts https://angeliquelamour.com/5-ways-research-your-book/ and this one https://angeliquelamour.com/writing-tip-question-the-research/ For more advice on such things join my newsletter here: https://angeliquelamour.com/25-questions and please ask me questions!
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