CUT!!!

I have to admit that I have never been on a movie set. But I’ve seen it portrayed often enough in films. That iconic cry coming from the director: CUT! It brings the cameras to a halt, and all the actors stop in their tracks and look at the director. What was wrong with the scene? Was I playing it too melodramatically? Or not hyping it enough? Did I flub my lines? Or was there something or someone interrupting the scene off set? So many different reasons can stop action.

We can see this happen, too, in our writing. In fact, for some of the very same reasons, our stories can come screeching to a halt. Are we flubbing our lines? That is, have we written sentences that, grammatically, the reader falls over, rather than being propelled onward in our narrative? Using weak verbs that are supported by too many adverbs can do that. Or using too many adjectives. Word choice is the Nirvana of writing successful stories. Not to mention avoiding simple spelling mistakes! In this day and age, there is just no excuse for them. Turn on the xxxx-ing spell and grammar check, people. (I know some who won’t. Good for them, although their writing might profit from it.) But remember, wherever possible: CUT! Cut extraneous verbiage. Ban grammar and spelling errors.

Another bugbear of mine is a lack of progression in a story or essay. That is when certain facts or elements appear in the wrong place. Granted, they may need to be in there, but not there. Sometimes it happens when the writer edits their piece and thus interrupts the natural flow of their thoughts. It can happen so easily, but it must be addressed and repaired. Breaking the narrative with irrelevant facts or action is a no-no. So CUT them out.

Too melodramatic, or too flat? Did the writer not set up the story to support the drama? Maybe the stakes are too low. Go back and raise them. For more than a hundred years (actually, it probably goes back to the ancient Greek theater), the following advice has been given to those who would write fiction (by too many pundits to accurately accredit it):

 “Get your hero up a tree quickly at the start. Then throw rocks at him. Get him into worse and worse difficulties. Finally, have him solve all the difficulties by one masterful stroke. Then finish in a hurry.”

Now, that is something to aim at. And don’t forget the rocks. But honestly, if that sounds too melodramatic for your story, the approach is adaptable to any genre.

And if you get it right, maybe you’ll get your work published. Or maybe someday someone may call out: CUT!!! That’s a wrap!

Images courtesy of Wikicommons