Last Few Pages

[Patrick Sweeney]

I have no idea why, but for me the last few pages of any script are like pulling teeth. It makes no sense. All the hard work's already done, now I'm just writing out some final confrontations and resolutions. Heck, I can blast out an Act I in a couple of days, but an Act III drags out a few pages at a time. Does this happen to anyone else?

[ATB]

Re: Last Few Pages

I think that's fine. Realistically, a few pages at a time is how you should be writing anyways. It's hard to write more than 5 quality pages at a time, IMO.

Better to take your time and churn out quality pages than to rush it and vomit out sh|t you'll certainly have to scrap.

[stainjm]

Re: Last Few Pages

That's why a lot of people know their endings first, and sometimes even write them out or at least plot-point them out before writing the rest (of course things may change).

[Patrick Sweeney]

Re: Last Few Pages

Oh, I definitely know what ground I need to cover, although I don't generally map out every scene until I reach that 10-12 page sequence in the first draft. Although John August once said he typically writes the first and last acts first, more or less, then puts Act 2 together, which among other things means he's not rushing through the crucial ending at a point when he's just trying to be done with the damn thing - which sounds good to me, I just haven't been able to do it yet.

I'd love to blast out a first draft in three days or a week or whatever, but it's just something I've never been able to bring myself to do. Five pages a day is my usual limit, unless I'm feeling crazy inspired or something. It's just that towards the end it's more like 2-3 pages a day, and I want to be done!

[holly]

Re: Last Few Pages

the opposite. im a team of wild horses surging to the end. i can't get out of the chair. ive worried that im shooting my wad because i just cant stop and will work for many hours straight til BLACK but i can't. its like when you can't put down a book in the middle of the night.

its funny because until the end of the piece in general, im a bleeder (bleeders vs. barfers) and i can't spend a lot of hours writing a day. at the end i can't stop.

[Patrick Sweeney]

Re: Last Few Pages

the opposite. im a team of wild horses surging to the end. i can't get out of the chair. ive worried that im shooting my wad because i just cant stop and will work for many hours straight til BLACK but i can't. its like when you can't put down a book in the middle of the night.

its funny because until the end of the piece in general, im a bleeder (bleeders vs. barfers) and i can't spend a lot of hours writing a day. at the end i can't stop.

Yeah, it seems to me that would be the way it ought to go, which is why I'm often frustrated at the end of projects. I've backstoried and exposited and established and everything by this point! This should be easier, not harder, shouldn't it? But I guess you can't fight your process, whatever it is.

[Timmy]

Re: Last Few Pages

I'm with Holly on this one.

Act III is like riding a bike downhill, like floodgates opening. Everything comes forth.

If I'm careful about anything in 3, it's making it not seem contrived - the pressure of closing.

[ChadStrohl]

Re: Last Few Pages

Maybe it's the subconscious pressure. How many times have we sat through a movie that was solid only to be let down by the weak ending? Or a novel. Or anything for that matter. There's an expectation level that goes waaaay up when it comes to that final act. Doubly so of what I expect of myself, because I don't want to the "that guy". I probably am, but I try real hard not to be.

[BloodyBigfoot]

Re: Last Few Pages

I have no idea why, but for me the last few pages of any script are like pulling teeth. It makes no sense. All the hard work's already done, now I'm just writing out some final confrontations and resolutions. Heck, I can blast out an Act I in a couple of days, but an Act III drags out a few pages at a time. Does this happen to anyone else?

Not often. I actually love when I get to the climax and last pages because I usually have been watering at the mouth and thinking about them while writing the the bulk of the 2nd act.

[Guinea Pig]

Re: Last Few Pages

Yeah, it seems to me that would be the way it ought to go, which is why I'm often frustrated at the end of projects. I've backstoried and exposited and established and everything by this point! This should be easier, not harder, shouldn't it? But I guess you can't fight your process, whatever it is.

I struggle with endings too. It took me five drafts of my current script to figure out where to end it. And what I finally settled on was wildly different from the original ending.

I do think you're right though. You *can't* fight your process. Whether you work straight through until it's done or do it in stages, whether you outline or fly by the seat of your pants (guilty! ) you have to do what's right for you.

As long as what you do gets the words on the page, then there is no right or wrong way.

[Kwinnky]

Re: Last Few Pages

I only have a problem with endings when I realize everything I wrote up to that point isn't really good. Mostly, writing an ending feels good as it's often one of the things I saw in my head before I even started to write.

[sppeterson]

Re: Last Few Pages

I'll sometimes write the denouement before getting to the end.

The big final confrontation is always fun, but after that the denouement can feel perfunctory. Though that can also get fixed in the rewrites.

[TwoBrad Bradley]

Re: Last Few Pages

I addition to resolving the Protagonist Goal, the Protagonist Theme, the Protag/Antag Relationship ...

I consider resolving the Protag/Confidant Relationship and give a sense that the Protag's life continues beyond the end of the movie.

Rick: Louie, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.