I recently gave some similar notes to different writers, and it helped me reframe my thinking about how to write. Specifically about how to maximize your efforts as a writer. It’s not new advice, but I do think it’s a different way of thinking about it. And since I’m the managing editor I’m going to make you read it too.
The Risk of Writing More
Let’s start with the note. As I was summarizing why I felt they should tighten up their script – enter late, leave early – I told them “it’s easier to write a shorter scene than better dialogue.” And I think that’s an under-appreciated element of a lot of feedback.
So many notes are about writing less. Get into a scene late. Leave early. More white space. Shorter script. Fewer adverbs. Less dialogue. Etc. It starts to feel like these are the ends rather than the means. Brevity alone becomes the way to demonstrate good writing.
But it’s not the ends. Tighter writing just means cutting away the elements that aren’t working. Aren’t interesting. And better writers can craft more elements – more words, more scenes, more pages – that do work. They earn those 130 page scripts, those 10 minute scenes, those 7 line paragraphs, because the writing sings.
How to Maximize Your Writing
When you go long on an element – meandering dialogue, rich prose, thick scripts – the better those things need to be. They start to draw attention to themselves. Become showy. And if you’re going to be showy, you better have something to show off.
And if you don’t, then keep it shorter. Because it’s easier to writer a shorter scene than to write better dialogue.