The Epistolary Crutch

Theory

Let's be honest about the found document trend. We love the aesthetic. We love the clinical reports and the fragmented logs. But for too many writers, it has become a shield. Why bother staging a scene when you can just summarize it in a memo? Why handle character development in real-time when a diary entry can just tell us how the character feels? It is a convenient way to avoid the hard work of pacing. A report should be a window, not the whole house. When the document becomes the only way the story is told, it is no longer a tool. It is a crutch. Some call it immersive worldbuilding; I call it a shortcut to avoid writing actual conflict. Where is the line for you? When does a document stop building the world and start replacing the story?