MENTAL MODEL · M2760

As You Know, Bob

CreatemediumWriting

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Updated 2026-08-02

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INTRODUCTION

English translation pending.

CORE DEFINITION

As you know, Bob is a term from screenwriting and fiction criticism for dialogue in which characters recite information they both already possess, purely to convey it to the audience. The label comes from the archetypal line, which opens by acknowledging that the listener already knows. The technique fails because real conversation never restates shared knowledge, so the exchange immediately reads as an author speaking rather than characters speaking. The standard corrective is to convert the information into conflict, action, or a physical object, so that the backstory surfaces as a consequence of the scene rather than as a briefing.

SCAFFOLDING EFFECT

psychology

Reduce cognitive load

- Dialogue check: Before writing a line, ask whether both characters already know it, and cut it if they do. - Conflict conversion: Turn background into a disagreement the characters actually have a stake in. - Object substitution: Carry history on props such as old photographs or damaged maps instead of in speeches.

anchor

Anchor fast decisions

Audiences infer a scene's rules from what characters do with each other. When characters exchange information they already share, the exchange has no motive inside the fiction, so the audience reads the author's hand and the scene stops feeling real. Information delivered through conflict or objects instead arrives with a purpose attached, which is why it survives the same test: it changes something in the scene rather than merely announcing something to the reader.

MINIMUM ACTION

In progress 0/1

Practice this model in one real situation:

Reread every line of dialogue and ask whether both speakers already know its content. 2. Cut or rewrite any line that exists only to inform the audience. 3. Convert the information into a disagreement, a mistake, or a discovery. 4. Attach background to objects, places, or physical details that characters can handle. 5. Let the setting emerge from what characters do rather than from what they explain.

Check to track your progress (stored locally)

Learning progress0%

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Source support: Explicit

link
novelium.comhttps://novelium.com/academy/glossary/as-you-know-bobZH · Explicit
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