Cutting

The original title of this post was going to be Circumcising Your Script, but I figured the connection between trimming script pages and cutting off part of a baby's dick is, at best, weak.

Instead, I've settled on Cutting, which I guess has as much in common with removing precious detail as slicing up your arm to My Chemical Romance's The Black Parade.

Lengthy introductions aside, I'm referring to the practice of going at your script with a butcher's fury for any number of reasons. Too long, redundant, just plain stupid--if you're a first time writer, this will happen to you. I can't speak for seasoned veterans, but it's ridiculous to imagine anyone could ever get to a point where they thought the first draft was the best draft.

Well, okay, you might think you've got it done in one, and you might think I'm an idiot for suggesting you'd ever need to make with the snip-snip all over your writing. But, uh, you're wrong. While I can assure you that I am an idiot*, this has very little to do with it. Editing is an unfortunate reality. In comics, with truly fucked up space constraints, it's even worse.

The silver lining, if I had to identify one, is that there isn't enough time to be hyper-critical of your own work. And while there is always enough time to make your script as lean and tight as possible, working with a deadline drastically cuts how much of it you can spend reading and rereading your script, cutting it, rewriting it, and doing it all over again.

When a project lacks boundaries, the odds are high you'll overthink it. There comes a time when it has to be good enough, even if it isn't great. That sounds like bullshit, but it's true--unless doing the same thing over and over forever is your idea of a party.

Summing it up? Edit your shit. Write as tightly as you can. If your character has a blood pact with a demon from the Netherverse (which is like hell, but in space), tell that story. Layers are important, but not if it the cost is too high. If the reader really wants to know why Vandrake Killdriver commands an undead army, don't force a new character that only you give a shit about on them in the next issue. Use this approach when you write your dialogue. The first thing to go will nearly always be that bitching knee slapper you thought up in the bathroom, so save yourself the trouble.

* Sike! I'm awesome.