Last time I made a thread regarding a work of mine in progress but asking a screenwriting question, I was told to put it in the class, but I'm still not sure...if anyone wants to move it there if it's in the wrong place I have no problem, or just tell me.

Right now, I'm writing a screenplay, my first, and I've reached more or less the half hour line. Thing is, I haven't gotten to the meat of the story yet. I've finsihed the intro, the characters have come to their "base of operations", but I find I lengthned many scenes, comic and dramatic, and now I'm starting to be afraid that if I don't hurry up I'll have a 3 hour+ movie, and I don't want tp be boring, which often happens in such long movies. Also, this script is venture enough without being super-sized.
So, how do I put myself in check, time-wise? How do I make sure not to go over? Also, if I think I've already spent too much time on an issue, how do you suggest I shorten it?

Overwriting is always better than underwriting.

You can always cut, short, edit scenes, but trying to add scenes can be tricky.

As long as it's flowing - go for it.

One thing to consider, regarding each and every individual scene, is this:

First, why is the scene there?  What is it's purpose?  What is the key component of this scene that contributes to driving the story forward or developing a character.

Once you have that nailed down, begin the scene as "late" as possible.  Is there some chit-chat up front that has nothing to do with character or story?  Cut it.  Don't show them walking up to a building and taking an elevator up to an office if it is OK for the scene to start in the office.  Stuff like that.

Then, end the scene as "early" as possible.  Conduct your business and get out once the goals of that scene have been accomplished.

When it comes to scenes, I read they should serve one of three purposes: character devlopment, plot progression, or a laugh. Preferably all three at once.

As for your current possible length conundrum, don't worry about it. The first draft is just your first shot at writing it. Write it first, and then worry about length. I quickly found something I was writing was coming out too short because the plot points were happening too quickly. I now have a 64 page script that I need to add 30-40 pages to somehow. That's worrying to another extreme, though, but the point is I still finished it.

Write it first, worry later.

Quoted from George Willson When it comes to scenes, I read they should serve one of three purposes: character devlopment, plot progression, or a laugh. Preferably all three at once.

I need to remember that; I have too much of the second and not enough of the first (I'm not worried about laughs; it's a serious movie, and I have one or two anyway).


The three movies tied for most oscars ever are Titanic, Ben-Hur, and LOTR: The Return of the King; all three extremely long.  LOTR I think was extremely puffed up (I fell asleep in one battle scene, and I NEVER fall asleep in movies), but still managed to be heralded as brilliant.  Hollywood won't make the movie if it's under 90 minutes (except for one or two 80 minute movies), but a three-hour movie is not a big problem.

And choreographed action movies will always be shorter than they're written.  You can write paragraphs of action for a scene that resolves itself in a few seconds.  So don't worry about length; woryy about making a great movie (basically, worry only about the local length.  If you have a three-hour hour set-up, that's boring.  But a three or even four-hour movie is not necessarily bad, especially as the latter can be split).