Daily Writing Style Complaint #2

daily writing style complaint #2

Referring to a character as ‘the other’.

Ex:  (John is in a scene with Bob.  They are talking.)

"You just don’t understand my angst," John said to the other, who smirked in response, a dark eyebrow lifting.

See?  The other what?  Let’s try this with more specificity.

"You just don’t understand my angst," John said to the other man, who smirked in response, a dark eyebrow lifting.

By being more specific, the reader will picture the scene more clearly, just by adding another word into the phrase.

Now, there are some cases where I’m fine with using ‘the other’ as a standalone phrase, but only when someone is making an argument, although I think even then specificity will add strength.