Nothing's Too Precious to Lose

I heard back from the ex-boss with feedback on the "problem child" screenplay.

He's a writer as well as a producer and whereas most people giving notes attack specifics in the given plot or characterization, he came at it from a premise angle. When I first wrote this script I was very attached to the idea of putting on screen a character and a field of work that's not often seen (an immigration officer) but the more I work it, the more I realize why it's not on screen. It's not very sexy and it doesn't work that well with the other elements I've got.

So he came up with an idea that opens up the screenplay a whole lot more, makes it more comedic and probably fixes some tone and stakes issues the piece has. It's big picture stuff that I feel story consultants and even writer friends might be wary to touch because they figure they've got to work within the parameters of the story you've sent them. In fact, I've been in situations where I've had big premise-changing thoughts about other people's scripts but bit my tongue because you figure, oh but that's an entirely different story.

But the question should be...is it a better story? For me, nothing's precious and I find throwing out things that work and that I love, liberating. What I learned crafting a specific scene or sequence doesn't change just because I have to jettison it.

All this is a lesson too that you've got to get the story of the script working before you prune and polish. I'm glad I showed it to Mr. Ex-Boss but now I kind of wish I'd plucked up the courage and showed it to him earlier.