Cutting a piece of writing to make it shorter, just for the sake of cutting it to make it shorter, is almost always a good idea.
Most lines are too long. Most action in a script is too long. Most short pieces are too long. Are yours? Try cutting. Here’s how.
What you’ll find is that cutting is more than just cutting. It’s more than just a way to find new, more economical ways to say things.
It forces you to think more clearly and be more direct. It gets you closer to both the overt meaning and the subtext of what you’re saying, which is what writing is all about.
If you’re building something bigger, like a script, story, or essay, cutting can help you find the beats, which are the points when things actually change. It can be like cleaning muck off dirty pipes, revealing a pristine metal gridwork underneath—the structure of your story.
It can help you accentuate and heighten your beats, to draw your audience in and keep them engaged.
It can help you find new beats that take your audience on a better ride.
It can help you understand your own work on a more fundamental level.
Cut, and keep cutting until you’re left only with what’s absolutely necessary. See what you learn.
I struggle with this...I love the example you give of Anthony jeslnik. One of my mentors John Gordillo ( an incredible stand up and director) has advised me to try and add some fluff to my stand up to make my set a bit less slick...I guess the challenge is to cut to make things impactful while not looking overly manufactured.
Totally agree. I nearly always find some way to shorten things when I go back and edit.
There are indeed some writers who can pull off the "lofty and verbose"style, such that the reader just revels in the words; right now I'm reading "Hitch-22" (Christopher Hitchens' memoir) and finding it pure pleasure. But I don't think I can really pull that off. I wish I could.