🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <BxF9p5.E2v@well.sf.ca.us>  writes:
> 
> a common screenplay saying is "kill your darlings," which means,  
eliminate
> anything in your script that is not essential to the plot.
> Aren't there some great films that have scenes that are not essential?
> What do you think of these:
> In Star Wars, there is a scene where Luke and Leia are separated from
> Han and Chewie, so that Luke swings over the bridge and Han runs around
> shooting. The thing is, afterwards, aren't they right back to where they
> started? Don't these scenes not make the story progress?
> 
> In the Godfather, what about the horse's head scene? Does that move
> the story forward? or is it necessary to develop characters?
> 
> did you know that a great scene was cut from Annie Hall because it
> wasn't essential? it was Woody making friends with some guys in jail.
> -- 
> Robert Chao
> Oakland, California
"Killing Darlings" is one of the hardest things to do.  No matter how much
I tell myself that I need to be ruthless and cut a part out, I will  
usually find some excuse to leave it in.  I have an unusually cruel  
proofreader (my mother) :) who will finally tell me that it has to go.   
Even then, I will definitely complain about it.  Sometimes I'm really  
tempted by thoughts of "so what if it doesn't fit the storyline" or "it  
doesn't really confuse the reader, does it?" just because I think it is  
such a cleverly written little spot . . .  I don't think that there is  
anyway to get over this and I think that most writers run into this  
problem.  At least, I hope that they do . . . I'd hate to feel all alone  
in this. :)
--
Barbara L. Thomas
"The World may never know."
bthomas@nic.gac.edu