For coaching on what to cut, watch a film’s special edition.
After I watched a special edition DVD Romancing the Stone, I made a point to see the bonus features. As I watched, I realized they offer insights for a novelist.
Great novels aren’t written, the saying goes. They’re rewritten.
This includes reviewing each scene’s purposes ― confirming it accomplishes such tasks as advancing the story lines, building characterization, and setting the right degree of tension.
Does each scene make essential contributions? If not, consider cutting or combining.
Does each scene make essential contributions?
If not, consider cutting or combining.
Romancing the Stone’s deleted scenes offer examples. Several seem to drag; they would have hurt the film’s pace. For a few, the tone seems wrong, giving viewers too harsh a view of a major character.
But those scenes also contained some vital information. That’s easy. The writers simply transferred those key lines to another scene. The result? A faster moving story with more a more consistent tone.
Try it yourself. Watch a special edition disk of a favorite film. Then watch the deleted scenes, asking why they were cut. What you learn will guide you as you shape your own novels.
