Hitting ‘save’ for the final time on the latest draft of Rocketboy and I am pretty sure we have nailed it.

So much has changed in this new draft, but the one big note I want to share is just about using fewer words.

I posted on Facebook recently, in the midst of the redraft, that ‘Screenwriting is the art and craft of saying the most with the fewest words’. That has been my mantra during this redraft.

There were so many turns of phrase and clever descriptions that I hacked out, replacing them with much shorter and succinct descriptions. I had to keep reminding myself that screenwriting is not prose. It is minimalist.

So when doing that final pass, really be tough and ask yourself about EVERY word on the page – can it be said in six words instead of eight? Of course this all assumes a great story, well execute with terrific characters too.

But think of the reader. They will want to experience an extremely well oiled, super refined machine of a script. No fat.

Deliver that script.

Onwards and upwards!

Chris Jones
My movies www.LivingSpiritGroup.com
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