I wouldn’t say the first draft is becoming bigger than I could have possibly imagined, but when a scene in the outline is 1-2 sentences, and it takes 2-3 pages to properly execute it, then chances are pretty good that overall page length is something to keep an eye on.

Fortunately, this is a first draft, so the primary goal for now is just working through the story and putting it all on the page. At the rate I’m going, I wouldn’t be surprised if this thing hits around 150.

Not an issue for a high-profile pro, but way too much for somebody like you or me.  Would you want to read a potential 2-1/2-hour spec? Me either.

This is another item added to the mental scene checklist  – on top of everything else, can this scene be written as short as possible and still do what it has to? (moving the story ahead, character development, etc.)

Take a look at this post by John August from 2007, which has also been turned into a very useful infographic every writer should print out and keep near their workspace.

I’ll worry about the numerous edits and changes that will no doubt be necessary later.

For now, I’m focusing on reaching the finish line, page length be damned (but still kept in mind).