Screenwriting tricks we hate: As You Know Bob...

INT. OFFICE, WATERCOOLER - DAY

Dick sips his water delicately. BOB, 55, disheveled and angry, slinks over from across the room.

BOB
Dick.

DICK
How goes it, Bob?

BOB
Not good. I'm at a loss. It's...hard.

DICK
Well. As you know, Bob. This is your third divorce. And, as we've discussed time and time again, the third is always the hardest. And, if I recall correctly, you're not getting any less impotent...am I right?

Dick laughs boisterously.

DICK
But seriously. You know as well as I do. You're broken. You're old. Your balls are, let's face it, not worth the sack they bounce around in.

BOB
You think it's time?

DICK
You've always thought you were a woman Bob. Make the change. What better time than now? You're forty three, you have two dogs, a mortgage, two angry ex-wives, and a boyfriend.

BOB
You know something, you're right.

DICK
Yes, Bob. I do know. We both do.


This is the AS YOU KNOW BOB PROBLEM to the extreme. Don't tell a character something they already know. It's tempting. Incredibly tempting. Because it's easy. Don't slide down that slippery slope.

PHRASES TO LOOK OUT FOR (used above): As you know, as we've discussed, if I recall correctly, you know as well as I do