AH HA! And light comes on!

[uncle_al]

Reminds me of a short parody I wrote to do in Super8 back about that time (I was just out of high school).

"Colonel Steve Awkward... Astronaut.  A man barely alive... even before his accident."
"We can rebuild him... make him better than he was.  Better... stronger... faster... but, unfortunately, not smarter."

Al B.

[FLM]

Gentlemen,
Thanks for the words of encouragement.
 It is a delicate operation. Can you really bring D.O.A back to life? We will see.
As they said on one my favorite childhood TV shows from WAY back in 1974: (it wasn't that long ago, was it?) 
"...A man barely alive. We can rebuild him. We have the technology. We can make him better than he was. Better...stronger...faster."
Let's see if I can do that to this lame duck. Steven Austin give me strength!

[uncle_al]

congrats on the pilot work!!!!!

Indeed so!  Wishing you the best as you perform surgery... The patient may yet be saved.

Al B.

[seansshack]

congrats on the pilot work!!!!!

[FLM]

Thanks alot, Al! It always good to get one done.
I feel (just me speaking) anything beyond 120 or below 90 reeks of beginner. Drama and comedy each have their limits. 120/90 is a good guideline for me.
I don't write epics nor will I so when my pages hit 100 to 110 I'm happy.
I perfer to come in low in page numbers because I find WAY easier to add then try and trim scenes out.
Oh yeah, a small bit of news!
I got a hour pilot today I have to "fix". And it's a MESS! I think I can save it though. TV isn't my game but pay is pay.
Strike won't happen till spring so I'm good for awhile.
 

[uncle_al]

Good job.
Now, page count is a tricky thing... IMHO, comedies tend to run lean to begin with.  There are very few good comedies longer than 90 minutes.  There's only so much Shinola you can put in the bottle.
Dramas could extend a bit past two hours; it's not deadly.  Of course, your mileage may vary; professional driver on closed course.
Switching up your initial premise and writing it that way can be a useful tool.  I like that.

Saying nothing useful new,

Al B.

[FLM]

So I was pounding out yet another feature. This one I was really getting into. I finish, thinking I was great, and then I look at my page count.
82! That's it?!  %&^#*!!!
This isn't going to cut it. So I go back to fatten it. I knew it was a little lean in spots anyways. I struggle to get it out. I only added 2 pages over a week's time. 
I knew something was up so I started pulling out the tricks. Adding scenes, Gender reversal, location change etc. Nope...no good.
Worked before but not this time.
Then I take away a main characters job and power. BINGO! New issues and new conflicts!  New page count - 108. In one day including re-write. And it feels tight. To me anyways. Might be crap to the rest of the world but I don't care. I climbed my impossible peak!
Felt pretty good when I couldn't type fast enough to get the repaired story out.
I guess my point is when in a corner, throw it out and go 180 the other way!  9 times out of 10, it will show you the way out.
I'd like to hear some other story fixes from the trenches if you feel like sharing!