The Polish
Read the dialogue out loud one character at a time. Now fix it. Make your dialogue unique
to each character. Cut exposition that you missed before. Increase the conflict in the dia-
logue, and increase it some more. Make the dialogue sound real. It should flow. It should
have rhythm and pace. Write as clever and as funny as you can. Improve the gags.
Check your script for clarity. Do you have enough dialogue or too much? Check your
script for style. Is it a good read? Be sure that you have the right length, exactly. Check the
script for spelling errors, for grammar, and for typos. Be sure the format is correct.
To the Development Executive, Story Editor, Producer, or Director
If you’re working as an executive, remember how it is to be on the other side of the desk.
Keep learning. Read all the books and articles you can on writing and storytelling. Take sem-
inars from the Hollywood gurus. Listen to what other development executives, story editors,
or directors have to say. Learn more about the animation production process. You can never
really learn too much. No matter how long you’ve been in the business, don’t be afraid to
listen to new opinions, new ways of storytelling, and new ways of working.
Remember that good storytelling skills and good structure are important, but be open
to new ways that work. Don’t be so attached to the rules and tricks of the trade that all the
stories begin to sound alike. The audience wants something different, although not so badly
that they want something that’s excruciatingly boring! There may be as many opinions about
what makes a good story as there are people involved in telling it.
Most of the time the development staff, the executives in programming, and the story
editors take an idea or a script and make it better. They make the concept more accessible
and appealing to more people or to a specific target audience. They make the story more
exciting, or more interesting, or bring it together into something that’s easier to understand
and appreciate. But it’s also possible to homogenize an idea, take the fun out or its heart
and soul. It’s possible to take a fresh idea and make it ordinary. The more tinkering that’s
done with a concept, the easier it becomes to end up with something that pleases no one.
Without a specific plan and with too many cooks, it’s easy to water down or completely
drown the broth. This is something that writers and executives alike must guard against.
A quality product with broad appeal will provide enjoyment and bring in money for a
very long time indeed. It’s better to add levels to broaden the appeal of a concept than to
dumb something down. Adults don’t like to watch entertainment that speaks only to a small
child. And kids can easily recognize when adults don’t take them seriously.
Sticking to a schedule is important. In animation schedules can be very, very tight, and
problems that are not expected can crop up to make them even tighter. Missed deadlines
can mean big financial penalties for a production company, and when production is rushed
beyond its capabilities, then quality suffers. But it’s also important to get the problems fixed
before going into production. Changes made later delay the schedule even more and make
for huge cost overruns. Keep in good communication with the other companies involved,
with producers and directors, with writers, story editors, and other executives to best decide
how problems can be quickly fixed and schedules kept. In television there may not be the
time or the budget to get everything perfect. Even with a big budget feature, at some point
Editing and Rewriting 263