A Writers View

“CUT WHAT YOU LOVE.” – Joss Whedon

It sounds pretty extreme but truly, if you’re ever working on a project and you’re stuck or you’re just not sure how to take it to the next level then – CUT WHAT YOU LOVE.

That doesn’t mean anything crazy or Hitchcock, not at all!

It means look at your work and take your favorite scene or character or even plot-point, the one that you keep re-reading, re-editing, re-working, re-living and – cut it.

Right out!

Pretend that it doesn’t exist and continue the story from that point on. If you’re really lucky, then when you’re going back through and editing everything, cleaning it all up and fine-tuning the rough spots you’ll be able to re-insert that favorite scene back into the story in an even better, more special, more beautiful way.

I did it. I was stuck, about 90 pages into my story and I just kept re-working those first 90 pages, fixing the spelling and the grammar and changing the locations around and the characters names, but never progressing any further.

Then, while I was mindlessly browsing the internet one day, I came across this bit of advice from Joss Whedon, whom you might know as the creator of the cult classic Firefly, or as the writer of the first Avengers film.

I was shocked and appalled at the thought of cutting my favorite scene, the part that I loved the most, that excited me and made me happy, out of my story, but I did it, and then suddenly the rest of the book flowed on its own out onto the page.

And, I was lucky enough to be able to go back and fit my favorite bits back in later. 🙂

So, if you’ve got a creative project that you’re stuck in, give it a try, cut what you love, and see what happens!

Writer OUT 🙂