I'm rewriting Where Angels Fear To Tread episode one of a six part drama series. The page count started out as 90 but I want to cut it down to 60 to make it a tighter script. I was dreading it, as there are some truly great scenes.
However, knowing you've got to lose 30 pages really focuses the mind. While I was working on it today I realised I had tried to do too much with character in the first episode and that was watering down what could be a tense drama. I started to cut several scenes (which I shall probably use in later episodes) and one subplot that were only slowing down the story. Before I knew where I was I had lost over ten pages of script. I thought the process would hurt but instead I found it exhilarating. When I read the first 20 pages again there were no wasted lines.
I learnt a valuable lesson today; kill your babies. No mater how well a line of dialogue or a scene is written, no matter how much you love it, if it doesn't contribute to the story or character then it needs to be cut. I cut a lot of my favorite lines and scenes today and now the script is looking much sharper. I'm not saying it's done yet but it's a lot closer than it was.
3 comments:
You're doing it again!! Killing babies!!! Arrrrrgghhhhhhhhhhhh!!!
I would like to point out that no babies were harmed during the writing of this post.
Maybe no babies were harmed DURING Dominic, but what about AFTER, hmmm? Or BEFORE?? HMMMMMMM???
And I take it you're rejecting my offer of a cup of tea this wknd??? Mind you, with your killing babies fixation, perhaps we've had a lucky escape down in Devonia...
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