Communities

Writing
Writing
Codidact Meta
Codidact Meta
The Great Outdoors
The Great Outdoors
Photography & Video
Photography & Video
Scientific Speculation
Scientific Speculation
Cooking
Cooking
Electrical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Judaism
Judaism
Languages & Linguistics
Languages & Linguistics
Software Development
Software Development
Mathematics
Mathematics
Christianity
Christianity
Code Golf
Code Golf
Music
Music
Physics
Physics
Linux Systems
Linux Systems
Power Users
Power Users
Tabletop RPGs
Tabletop RPGs
Community Proposals
Community Proposals
tag:snake search within a tag
answers:0 unanswered questions
user:xxxx search by author id
score:0.5 posts with 0.5+ score
"snake oil" exact phrase
votes:4 posts with 4+ votes
created:<1w created < 1 week ago
post_type:xxxx type of post
Search help
Notifications
Mark all as read See all your notifications »
Q&A

Post History

50%
+0 −0
Q&A Do I have to show my characters making up after an argument, or can it be implied when we see them on good terms again?

If the argument is a minor one, and the characters are people you'd expect to generally get along (good friends, parent/child etc.), you can safely skip the making up. In long-term relationships of...

posted 6y ago by Galastel‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Answer
#4: Attribution notice removed by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-12T21:57:21Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/35465
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T08:37:02Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/35465
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by (deleted user) · 2019-12-08T08:37:02Z (almost 5 years ago)
If the argument is a minor one, and the characters are people you'd expect to generally get along (good friends, parent/child etc.), you can safely skip the making up. In long-term relationships of any sort, it is natural that minor arguments occur, and then get resolved. It's not a big issue, it might as well get resolved off-screen. If resolving the argument adds nothing to the story, it definitely should be resolved off-screen. A reader would assume that they argued, someone apologised, or just forgave, no big deal.

If, on the other hand, the argument was over a major issue, or one of the people arguing crossed a line with what he said or did, the apology cannot be just assumed.  
For example, a very disappointing instance in _Star Trek - Deep Space 9_ was in season 6: at the start of the season, one of the main characters cheats on his girlfriend, abandoned his duties, and allowed the Bad Guys to do a series of Bad Things. Eventually he remembers what he should be doing and saves the day, but then the reconciliation happens off-screen. Literally: the character and his girlfriend go into a closed room, and next time we see them, they emerge reconciled. The viewers hated it, the actors hated it. It only happened because the writers first wrote the character's temporary betrayal, and then couldn't figure out what to do next. Since you're not writing a TV show, you can do better.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2018-04-24T18:31:01Z (over 6 years ago)
Original score: 4