My screenplay is at 85 pages... what to do?

charles19

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So I transferred my screenplay text from WORD to Trelby, and it went from 136 pages to about 85 pages. From what I understand, an acceptable length is 90-110 pages. My genre is an adult comedy. I guess 85 pages is a little on the short side, so I am scrambling to add more text, but there is something about padding the text that doesn't feel right. Maybe its because I think the screenplay is a kind of self-contained unit, and it feels strange to add anything further to what I think is a perfect whole. On the other hand, I am taking the opportunity to add a romantic interest (a theme which was missing in the original). The problem is that I don't want to interrupt the flow. I am just wondering whether anyone has any thoughts about this situation?

Thank you,

-Charles
 
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dpaterso

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I dunno, maybe you can get away with just inserting more character and dialogue, maybe your framework can support this without buckling.

If you haven't already, it might be worth stepping back to look at your screenplay's beat sheet and judge how long the various sequences are and how they connect with each other, if anything's been thrown off-balance by your new inserts.

Sample beat sheets can be found everywhere, e.g. https://timstout.wordpress.com/story-structure/blake-snyders-beat-sheet/ and there's a ton of 'em listed (breakdown of produced movie scripts) on http://www.savethecat.com/category/beat-sheets

One I saw in the past had page numbers listed as a rough guide, which was helpy... oh there it is as a PDF - http://www.savethecat.com/mediafiles/beatsheetpdf.pdf

I'm not saying any of this has to be followed religiously, I'm just suggesting maybe it might help you to see things from a broader perspective.

-Derek
 

charles19

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Derek, this is indeed interesting. I have never heard of a beat sheet before! It makes perfect sense to first get a bird's eye view of he screenplay, before inserting anything else. That feeling of organic wholeness and flow must not be compromised.
 

charles19

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I am up to 95 pages now. I am glad I expanded the story. I introduced both a romantic and action element and managed to fit it in where it flows nicely. I might even add a bit more. It will likely reach 98 pages eventually!
 

Paradis

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Charles who are you getting to read and give you notes?