You've finished your script. It's 127 pages. You've read that the ideal page count for a spec script is 90–115 pages. You were hoping for 105 pages for this one, but you're well over that.
What do you do?
The first instinct is to start cutting scenes. You scroll through the screenplay looking for anything you can sacrifice.
Maybe this conversation can go?
Maybe this character can be deleted?
Maybe this scene or sequence can be cut?
Sometimes that's exactly what the screenplay needs. Sometimes you need to cut story elements that are redundant, too long, or simply unnecessary.
Other times, you've done all the story cutting possible, yet still have too many pages. If you can't lose any more story in your script, but you still need to cut your page count down, don't worry. There are other ways you can accomplish this inevitable screenwriting task.
With that in mind, here we showcase five steps you can take to cut pages without losing story.
Step #1: Story Length Versus Writing Length Readthroughs
Page count itself doesn't always tell you why a screenplay is too long. You have to do the necessary readthroughs of your script to identify whether or not you have issues with story length or writing length.
A 120-page screenplay could contain a 105-page story buried beneath overly descriptive scene description and overly written dialogue, while another 120-page screenplay could actually contain fifteen pages of unnecessary story.
Each of those requires very different rewrites. Sometimes your rewrites require work on both ends. Let's take a look at the differences between the two.
Story Length
Story length means you have too many scenes, characters, subplots, sequences, or story beats.
Writing Length
Writing length means you're generally using too many words and pages to communicate your story.
How to Tell the Difference Between Story Length and Writing Length Issues
The easiest way to tell the difference is to write a script summary beat sheet that covers each scene.
Write one sentence to describe each scene. Don't describe every action or character exchange. Identify the scene's purpose.
If most of the scenes in your breakdown are necessary to tell the story, then you don't really have a major story length concern. Instead, you have a compression issue. That's great news because compression is very easy to fix.
Since we're talking about how to cut pages without losing story, let's assume you've gotten the story down to where it needs to be. It's time to start some compression steps to take down your writing length.
Step #2: Enter Scene Later, Get Out Earlier
One of the easiest ways to shorten a screenplay without losing story is to stop writing the beginning and ending of every scene.
This is a common problem for most beginning screenwriters, and even seasoned pros can struggle with it at times. Screenwriters often enter scenes too early and leave too late because they naturally imagine things happening in chronological order. It feels like story progression.
The protagonist is here, then they learn something that takes them there, then they go from there to somewhere else. This leads to scenes where characters enter, make introductions, get through the drama, and then leave. If you've watched movies, you know the best of them avoid these otherwise mundane entrances and exits.
You need to write a movie like an editor edits a movie. Editors want the pacing to move at breakneck speed, even in dramas. They want the story to move fluidly, without lingering on any given scene or sequence too long.
How do you get into a scene later, and exit a scene early?
Screenplays need to skip the mundane connective tissue of life. Audiences don't need it. If we see a character say they're going to a police station, and then the next scene takes place inside the police station, we understand that they drove there, parked, went inside, and found whoever they needed to speak with.
We don't need to see all of that, which means the screenwriter doesn't need to describe it. You should only be showcasing scenes that are important and vital to the story. Entrances and exits are mundane and boring unless, within those entrances and exits, major story elements are in play.
With each scene, look at the first several lines of scene description and dialogue. Could you cut them? Then look again. Could you cut them even more? Then look at the last several lines of scene description and dialogue. Could you cut them? Then take another look. Could you cut them even more?
Try entering scenes at the last possible moment while still allowing the audience to understand what's happening. Try leaving scenes right when the key information has been revealed, the argument has reached its peak, or a decision has been made.
Avoid having characters explain what just happened (trust the reader or audience). Don't have the characters explain what they're going to do next. They don't have to say hellos and goodbyes, unless it's key to the story or characterization. We don't need to see characters walking into and out of doors, nor do we need to watch characters watching them entering and leaving. Again, unless it's vital to the story.
Step #3: Seek Out and Cut Repetition
Repetition is one of the biggest hidden page-count killers in screenplays, and it's often difficult for screenwriters to see.
You've spent months developing your concept, characters, and story, so you naturally want to make extra sure the audience understands and processes the important information. The result is that the screenplay ends up communicating the same information multiple times.
- The detective discovers that the victim received threatening messages before their death.
- Then the detective tells their partner about the threatening messages.
- Then they tell their captain together.
- Then they explain the threatening messages to the victim's family.
Before you know it, you've written four scenes about the same information. To avoid this, you need to ask yourself how many of those scenes you actually need.
This can also happen with character information as well.
- A character tells someone they don't trust their father.
- Later, they tell someone else about their difficult relationship.
- Later, another character explains why the other character doesn't trust their father.
We understand. We get it. It's too much.
Readers and the audience deserve more credit. You don't need to over-explain things to them. Once you've established something clearly, trust that the reader and the audience understand it until the story gives them a reason to reconsider it.
Story beats can also be repetitive. Maybe your protagonist needs to learn three pieces of information during an investigation. Instead of sending them to three different locations for three similar conversations, could one location provide two or all of those answers?
Sometimes two or more supporting characters serve the same purpose. Could they become one character?
Repetition can also be found in dialogue. Are there speeches that essentially say the same thing? Maybe arguments between two characters are getting repetitive?
Cutting repetition in your script can do the heavy lifting as far as cutting pages without cutting story.
Step #4: Compress Scene Description and Dialogue
Sometimes your story isn't too long; your scene description and dialogue are.
Compress Your Scene Description
Scene description should communicate what the reader/audience sees and hears as efficiently as possible. You want whoever is reading your script to picture your movie as quickly as possible.
It's often tempting to wax poetic in your scene description, or go into detail about set design, wardrobe, etc. When you do, you make it harder for your movie to play in their mind's eye. Overwriting your scene description is a surefire way to slow down the read of your script. Readers can lose focus and interest. Keep it simple.
Overwritten Scene Description Example:
INT. PRISON CELL – NIGHT
The dark hallway, made entirely of stone, stretches into a black void. The dripping of water is heard as condensation escapes from between the stones and into muddy puddles of water on the wet floor.
The only light source comes from the cell block window, the beams of the moon sneaking in between the rusty bars that keep prisoners from their dreams of freedom.
This is too much.
Concise Scene Description Example:
INT. PRISON CELL – NIGHT
Dark. Wet. Shadows overcome any source of light.
Same scene. Fewer words needed. Better read. If you can master the art of keeping your scene description as simple and straightforward as possible, you'll see less and less wasted space in your screenplays.
Compress Your Dialogue
Each line of dialogue should matter. Each line of dialogue should be an example of something that cannot be taken out of the script.
If a character says:
I don't know. I guess what I'm trying to say is that maybe we shouldn't go there tonight.
Instead try:
We shouldn't go tonight.
It's really as simple as that. Compressing, limiting, and deleting dialogue can make a huge difference in your page counts. But the benefits don't stop there. Having less dialogue can enhance your dialogue and make it stronger when each line of dialogue matters.
If a character says:
I don't care what you think. I don't care who you are. I don't care if you believe me or if you think I'm crazy and should be locked up in some mental institution. I don't care what anyone thinks or believes. I only care about what I know and what I saw.
Instead try:
I don't care. I know what I saw.
Long dialogue blocks add up and can really add to the page count. But it goes beyond that. You can say so much more by having your characters say so much less.
Step #5: Combine Scene and Story Beats
Instead of searching for ways to delete things to cut pages, look for scenes and story beats you can combine.
Perhaps you have a protagonist that needs to do three things:
- Have an argument with their spouse.
- Get an important call with information necessary for the plot.
- Notice that someone is watching their house.
For some screenplays, that could be three different scenes. For others, all three things could happen in the same scene.
The protagonist argues with their spouse in the car. Their phone rings. They receive information that changes the story. While processing that information, they glance out of the car window and see someone watching their house from afar.
Now a single scene accomplishes multiple story objectives at once. This is a prime example of efficient screenwriting.
Final Draft Software Hack to Cut Pages Without Losing Anything
Before we offer this Final Draft software hack, know that the best option to cut pages without losing story is to follow the five steps above. However, sometimes you need a little help to trim your page count down just enough. If so, follow these steps:
- In your Final Draft document, click on Document > Page Layout > Options.
- You will then see Line Spacing.
- Options in Line Spacing are Very Tight, Tight, Normal, and Loose.
- Each of these options varies the line spacing in very small ways. If you're trying to cut a few pages, selecting Tight will usually do the job. If you're trying to cut ten or more, try the Very Tight setting.
This is an aesthetic setting hack that can help you after you've done all that you can with the five steps above. Good luck!