Let's clear something up with the whole "if this was a screenplay, execs would tell you it's too over the top or unbelievable" trope. No one ever tells you it's too over the top or unbelievable. No one ever says it's too on the nose, no one ever says it's too broad or obvious.
When you write it broad, or obvious, or arch, or big, or make the subtext text, or the exposition too straight-forward, or the bad guys unbelievably bad, those things generally go unremarked upon. I can't remember the last time someone told me to tone it down.
Our world isn't like a bad Hollywood movie. It's like a Hollywood movie.
I always try to write scenes just a shade or two UNDER what I imagine is a comfortable level of comprehension, knowing it's only going to become more clear once we let amazing actors express themselves on a big screen while we're staring at them.
I ALWAYS know when I'm doing that well because I'll get tons of clarity notes from execs. Now, they almost always know what the scene is about. They can tell me exactly what I'm trying to accomplish. But they still worry it's not coming across--despite evidence its coming across.
But at least that way I know I'm right below the Waterline of Too Obvious.
