How long should a short be?  I've heard numbers all over the range.

Long enough to tell the story.  No more.  No less.


Phil

Good point, but is there a standard page length like for standard scripts it's like 90-120 any such thing for shorts?

No.  I have a pair of shorts on--I have two short scripts--on these boards.  'Suicide' is ten pages.  'Tocsin' is thirty.  That's how long it took to tell these stories.



Phil

Alright thanks, now I can go until I think it's done.  Who knows, might turn out to be a 80 page short.  Doubt it, but we'll see.  Thanks for the quick responses.

80 pages is a feature.  This is a frequently asked question.  There should be a frequently asked questions section with formulas, act structures, breakdowns, lengths, et cetera.

The real question is why write so many shorts? Is it because people have no creative or artistic ability to write a feature? You cant become a better writer if all you do is write 25 page shorts.

Don should have a limit of 5 shorts per person and than you're cut off, sure he'll put the script on the main site but the board should never see them because they do nothing. Nobody listens to comments on scripts when they are there and only listen when it's something like "Wow dude, this is awesome."

If that's all people want than just say so, don't waste our time asking for a review.

Wes, are you alright, you've seemed very down recently?

I have written eight or nine shorts now and every single one has taught me something so yeah, I do think it can make you a better writer. Plus, you can make all the beginners mistakes (and believe me I still do) and get them out of the way without investing months and months of the toil and sweat that goes into a feature.

On a practical level it is cheaper and quicker to make a short, and in a day and age when the film industry is unwilling to take a chance on an unknown, shorts seem to be getting more and more prominence as a 'calling card' for the director/producer/writer etc.

I am just building up to posting a couple of shorts on here, I wouldn't bother unless I was genuinely interested in getting feedback (and to be honest I have always found a little constructive criticism to be far more useful than someone saying 'wow dude that was awesome').

Go look, thats all thats been coming out recently. I dont think a short helps you write a feature, a feature needs solid 3 acts that get you where you're going without having to add in filler scenes.

A short does that, yes but it also gets you use to writing short and in turn you wont be able to reach a desireable length in the end on a feature.

Actually recently other than my computer I've been cruising normally. I just think I should start not holding back my thoughts as much as I would have last year.

I agree in that I have just started on my first feature length film, 30 pages in and its the hardest thing I have ever written. But a lot of the elements that go into a script - formatting, dialogue, description/action paragraphs, character development, pacing, you can learn through shorts. In some ways its actually a pleasure to have 90 + pages to get across the story and characters, I tend to try and cram as much into a short as I can and they suffer for it.

There have been a few shorts posted on here recently that have bucked that trend - a Zombie Inside and the one by Bare Nerve spring to mind. I understand your frustration, if you look down the list in the short section I have read and reviewed quite a few scripts where the author has never been seen or heard of again, but to be honest part of the reason I keep on reading them is because it helps me in my writing!  

Don't hold back, lifes too short!

Writing a short holds you back, write a series thats 21 pages long. At least that way you can build up your confidense in character development because you have to cram a lot of stuff and still make it good. Alan Holman does this best, his series is flawless and whatever flaws you do find well I doubt you would find one.

It's not like people have to agree with me because the facts are all there for you to see, it's just really unorganized much like the horror section.

I meant don't hold back with your opinions Wes!

As a very new writer I think shorts are a good learning ground. As I get more experience, I will hopefully move on to other formats, but short, series, and features, why should writing in any one exclude the others? Look at Stephen King, I prefer his shorts stories to his novels, are you trying to tell me he is wasting his time?  

And in terms of actually getting stuff produced, even if its only one of my mates messing around with a camera, short scripts will always be the easiest to work with.

You're right about the short section on this site, its one hell of a mixed bag, but having read some of the feature length stuff, maybe the rule should be you can't move on until you have written at least one decent short!  

There is nothing wrong with writing shorts.  If you have a story that's short, there's no reason to expand it into a feature and there's no reason to toss it aside.

Too often, Hollywood will take a short story and make a feature out of and it sucks.  Examples of this are 'They Live,' starring Rowdy Roddy Piper (okay, he sucked, too) and Total Recall (with Arnold Schwarzenegger).  Both of these movies are based on short stories.  If I recall, 'They Live' was based on a two page story; it took me less time to read the story than to watch the fight scene with Piper and Keith David.

I think if I added even a few pages to the shorts I've written, I ruin the story.  It would just be obvious padding.

And writing a short isn't necessarily easier than writing a feature.  In ten or fifteen pages, you have to establish the characters and tell the entire story.  You don't have much room to play.

The shorts are in their own section.  If you don't want to read them, don't go there.


Phil

In fact, do what you want. I do not really care, listen to me or don't it's all the same. You'll do what you want anyway and well when it all goes wrong I'll be here to say "I told you so"

i agree with someone on here he said a short is how long to tell the story. that is pretty good answer