h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

This is interesting and thought provoking.

It's certainly true that writers clarify and exaggerate events. Real life is messy and doesn't tend to neat conclusions. So writers simplify and exaggerate.

But when it comes to characterisation and dialogue, doesn't it depend on what genre you're writing and who you're writing for?

If you're writing comedy, of course your characters will be larger than life. If you're writing short stories, characters need a few strong brush strokes rather than complexity. if you're writing for children your story line may be simpler and your characters less subtle. Probably.

If you were writing, say literary fiction, you would aim for characters who are complex, with back story and intelligent motivation. Mind you, as they say 'There's nowt as strange as folks.'

Absolutely. I agree with that. I was merely trying to point us in the direction of some of the details.

There's broad, and then there's broad. For instance, there's a ton more subtlety in the offbeat humour of 'The Big Empty' than ever appeared in something like Monty Python. Oddly, even the minor characters - the tinfoil-hat-wearing guy in the diner, for instance - are much better defined, and less hopelessly exaggerated, than anything that appeared in Python.

There's not just one way to do it, which makes for the endless variety of writing. Otherwise, you're just moving counters around. Where would be the fun in that.