editing

Less really IS more

Maximum Z editing, outlines, plot, screenwriting, story
This scene consists of TWO short, spot-on lines of dialogue

It’s always recommended that when you finish a script, you should put it in a drawer and not look at it again for at least two weeks. That way you can look at it with fresh eyes.

That’s what happened with the LUCY outline. Since I’ve been so pre-occupied with the DREAMSHIP rewrite, I haven’t looked at it since around Halloween.

I thought I had to get to a certain plot point in Act Two, but I’d forgotten I already had. A pleasant surprise, and it just needs a little tweaking.  Nice.

Then I read the rest of Act Two.

Oy.

What was I thinking?  Way too overwritten.  It drags, taking forever to get to where I want/need it to be.  A lot of unnecessary scenes.  And worst of all – my protagonist isn’t driving the action.

Strictly amateur hour.

I now see this as a challenge and opportunity to not only make some major fixes in this section of the story, but to do a massive overhaul in terms of editing and trimming the whole thing down.  If I can cut something and it doesn’t impact the story, then it shouldn’t have been in there in the first place.

This will also have to happen with DREAMSHIP. My midpoint’s on page 60, and that’s around 5-10 pages too many.

Time to get creative and kill some darlings.

I needed that

Maximum Z editing, inspiration, Movie of the Moment, outlines, screenwriting

(One of my absolute favorite clips ever. Impossible to not enjoy.)

For the first time in what feels like weeks, I actually got to do some writer stuff!

A very nice meet-up with the sole remaining member of my old writing group. She liked the first act of DREAMSHIP, then we discussed a stage production she’s working on. Bonus – it involves time travel!  Also got her thinking about how to expand the number of characters and how each could play a role in the overall plot.  I think I like editing and consulting on other people’s stuff almost as much as writing my own.

Then it was typing up what I have so far for the first half of the LUCY outline. I’m still stuck in the latter half of the second act, but figured this was a good way to clear my head and possibly stumble onto a solution.

(I really should have been working on DREAMSHIP pages, but a friend made a great suggestion that I’d like to work in, so I need to make that fix before picking up where I left off.) 

It’s hard to describe, but writing out each scene, expanding it a little, putting in some detail that links it to something that comes later, was incredibly satisfying. Honestly, I got chills putting it on the page. And I’m only up to around page 12.

Part of the thrill comes from the editing.  Scenes I felt were vital turned out to not be, so out they went. Streamlining your story is a wonderful thing.

If I can find about an hour to 90 minutes a day to just focus on writing, I will be such a nicer person to be around.  And that’s really saying something.

-And now, the long-awaited return of Movie of the Moment!  This time – TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON (2011). Still incredibly cheesy, but worlds better than #2.  I’d heard the last hour was pretty good, and I’d agree, but maybe a few too many Amazing Escapes for me.

Nothing unexpected throughout, but the John Malkovich subplot took a weird turn, then completely disappeared about halfway through.

Hack! Slash!

Maximum Z editing, rewrite, screenwriting
Whattya think of my script so far?

No chance to work on pages, but I did get my eyes opened by doing some more editing on LUCY.

It’s amazing how easy it is to cut something out when you really need to.  And boy, did I need to.  Suffice to say, the entire first half is at least ten scenes lighter, and there’s a few more that could probably go.

I hadn’t realized how much I had padded this thing. The hard part now is determining which scenes feel more like filler, and focus on the ones contributing to moving the story forward.  Sometimes it ain’t easy figuring out which is which.