Weight Loss for Screenplays

The sage John August offers great advice on getting a screenplay to sub-120-page fighting weight.

Let me add a few of my own.

• Instead of having a character say "Yes" or "No" just have them nod or shake their head in an action line. It saves a little, and it's more visual.
• In my experience, really attacking the story in the outline stage can save a lot of writing and killing of favorite scenes. There are still the scenes that you think will work and when you write them, they don't. So you can't and shouldn't avoid rewriting altogether, but still, it helps.
• Plot beats jokes. Without the story, even in a comedy, you have no movie. So ask yourself how funny some of those jokes really are. Is the payoff of Jimmy's line worth the page of set-up. It's my opinion that jokes that come from plot and character are the funniest and most natural.
• Telegraphic writing. Check out the work of Ron Bass or David Mamet or any number of successful screenwriters. A lot of those scripts read like Zen poetry. Ron Bass seems to purposely avoid complete sentences. You'd be surprised how much visual information can be gotten from being selective about details. Pick things that imply everything without you having to say it.