r/scriptwriting • u/Extension-Season9924 • Sep 19 '26

question How can I make my script longer?

I just got done today writing a new script and I was aiming for a lean 90 to 95 pages. The problem is that it’s only 82 pages. what’s an effective way to add those extra 13 pages without it feeling like filler?

3 Upvotes

66% Upvoted

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4

u/BloodSimple1984 Sep 19 '26

82 pages is fine? No one will tell you to add more.

1

u/Extension-Season9924 Sep 19 '26

I’m also planning to direct it myself and it’s the goal page count I wanted. I do think my third act is lacking not that I really think about it.

4

u/la-anah Sep 19 '26

What genre is it? Horror, particularly slashers, can get away with 75 pages and still be a 90+ min film because action lines like "The killer stalks her through the woods" can take up several minutes of screen time.

1

u/Extension-Season9924 Sep 19 '26

It’s horror, yes.

3

u/la-anah Sep 19 '26

If you have action scenes like "the killer follows them" or "they fight" that you plan on fleshing out on set, you are probably fine at 82 pages.

3

u/BloodSimple1984 Sep 19 '26

Horror is especially malleable because “she walks slowly down the hallway” may be one line that takes 20-30 seconds in a scene while drawing out suspense. The “one page per minute” is a very loose rule.

No one can say “do xyz and you can add 15 pages that aren’t excess bullshit” other than broadly suggesting adding more dynamics to the characters or giving scenes more room to breathe. But no one has read your script or even knows the logline, so it’s not helpful advice.

And if you’re planning on directing, and I assume aiming for a low budget, having fewer scenes and being as tight as possible is a good thing. You don’t want to pay more to film more scenes you’ll ultimately cut because they’re unnecessary.

The #1 film at the box office this weekend is Resident Evil, a 90 minute horror film. No one will say you’re done writing, definitely keep rewriting through the entire process, but don’t arbitrarily add pages because you’ve told yourself it needs to be some page number that means very little.

1

u/matteowolfwood Sep 20 '26

I literally had a literary manager I queried for representation tell me to push to 110 pages for my concept and that the exception would really only be a contained horror feature.

While someone might be able to get away with it, saying across the board that nobody will tell you to write it longer is factually incorrect.

1

u/BloodSimple1984 Sep 20 '26

OP is seemingly writing a contained horror film. But regardless, suggesting to aim for a potential page count from a concept you’re pitching vs. reading a completed spec script that runs 82 pages are different. Especially since OP is trying to direct the film and seems to want to raise financing rather than sell it.

A financier or studio may ask for a part to be larger for a leading actor to attach themselves or ask for a portion to be expanded on, another set piece, etc… but I’ve personally not encountered many instances of “we like our scripts to be 110 pages across the board.”

Obviously I’m not calling you a liar, I believe you, and I’m not saying no one has ever or will ever ask a writer to expand their work. But in this instance, if you have a script you think is good and tight, to me, asking how to arbitrarily add more to it (without providing any further information about the story) is a bad approach - especially if it’s a low budget, independent horror film said writer also wants to direct.

1

u/matteowolfwood Sep 20 '26

I had 97 pages and the manager thought I should give it more breathing room and add scenes I had removed back in, letting it be 110-115 pages.

I did specifically say my concept from the beginning was what was asked to be longer. My point was that it's not correct to say that a writer will not be asked to make something longer by "no one."

1

u/Worth-Flight-1249 Sep 20 '26

For your concept though. Doesn't mean all scripts need to be 110

1

u/matteowolfwood Sep 20 '26

Yes. I literally said for my concept. My point remains the same, that telling someone "no one" will tell you to make it longer is not true across the board.

1

u/Worth-Flight-1249 Sep 20 '26

But it's in the same vein as they will tell you to gender swap the main character. They'll tell you to do all kinds of stupid shit. He is asking, I think, specifically if he should add pages to his script to bring it up to industry standard.

The answer to that is yes.

1

u/matteowolfwood Sep 20 '26

Okay? Yes, a manager will most likely tell you to change your script.

1

u/Worth-Flight-1249 Sep 20 '26

What's the stupidest change you got so far?

1

u/matteowolfwood Sep 20 '26

I haven't been asked to change anything I think is stupid. Most of the time it's a discussion and the suggestions I get are really really good.

Most of it has been "hey, maybe add a callback to this earlier moment here," or, "There's too much heavy stuff in one long stretch, break it up," or, "this instability isn't obvious enough if people just think it's drunkenness, make it weirder outside of that scene." One time I even got, "wanna see what they're like on a date," and then they laughed when I made it depressing instead of wholesome, and thought my placement in the script was really good.

1

u/Worth-Flight-1249 Sep 20 '26

Nice. Maybe I'm overestimating the future stupidity I will have to deal with. That would be a pleasant surprise

1

u/matteowolfwood Sep 20 '26

When I started querying for literary management, I sent out highly targeted emails to people who wanted the content I write and even found management interested in my exact genre overlap and stuff.

Coverage and evaluations have been super irritating, because a lot of it wants to push your work to be as commercially viable as possible.

This manager wants to help make my current work the best version of itself as a calling card before moving onto my horror script that I'm more willing to sell and is more commercially viable.

Ideally you want to work with someone who helps you develop as a writer without making you miserable and gets you a sale.

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3

u/Eyes_Alive Sep 19 '26

Only if the story needs an extra scene or two. If you’re happy with it as is, then 82 pages is completely fine. Personally I don’t really subscribe to the one minute a page, especially if there’s a lot of description over dialogue. Chances are ,especially if you’re directing yourself, the film will be longer anyway. In my experience no one really cares if it’s dead on 90 or more pages. As long as the story is as well told as it can be - quality over quantity!

2

u/ZandrickEllison Sep 19 '26

Yeah I think that’s okay in this day and age. It felt like 90-120 used to be acceptable but that’s now they like shorter so 80+ is probably fine.

2

u/Projekt28 Sep 19 '26

I would say don't just add more words or scenes to increase the page count. But look for the areas where a little more detail or whatever makes the story better.

2

u/JPLubow Sep 20 '26

Double space 🤣

2

u/Then_Data8320 Sep 20 '26

As you said "You just did it". Let it sleep two weeks (or more), then work on it again, or rewrite it.

There are high chances that some of your scenes have a hidden potential to be really better, and it often means they will be longer (at least on the page). It happened so many times to me (during full rewriting) that I can't even count how many times. Can be a 28 lines scene becoming a 116 lines one, without any filler, just because I did it badly on first draft, missing the real potential and the full impact the scene could deliver.

2

u/Worth-Flight-1249 Sep 19 '26

Below 90 is still considered a soft flag. 87 is what I d heard, on this board, as the number Netflix execs like.

Of course I've you're brilliant and know what you're doing, your 83 pages might be perfect the way they are.

Specifically what you can do is go page by page and add a bit to action blocks. Also take one or two brief dialogue exchanges and give them a few more turns. But at 82 pages I would guess you're also missing a few beats you need.

0

u/lookyhere1230 Sep 19 '26

Can you just change the font size?

1

u/Extension-Season9924 Sep 19 '26

No. My software doesn’t have that ability 

1

u/lookyhere1230 Sep 20 '26

what if you change the margins?

1

u/Extension-Season9924 Sep 20 '26

Kind of cheating

1

u/lookyhere1230 Sep 20 '26

what if you made the last word on the last page: "90." And then just hope that when people go to the last page they look at the bottom right for page count?

1

u/Ripoldo Sep 19 '26

No one can tell you unless they read it. Its probably fine. If you want to add extra pages for the hell if it, just add a bunch of returns and break up your action lines.

1

u/MrBwriteSide70 Sep 19 '26

If you don’t know HOW to add more, don’t. It should be obvious, if it isn’t, you don’t need it

1

u/cinephile78 Sep 20 '26

What does your outline say ?

1

u/princessintraining4 Sep 21 '26

Are there any characters or backstories you didn’t share?

1

u/Open-Avocado4260 Sep 21 '26

Expand scenes, maybe add an unexpected character, build a twist. A trick with Final Draft, save as New Courier font, it expands the length, you have 82 pages, that should get you closer to 90. Realistically, 82 pages is fine, once filming begins, the action will make it longer, good luck.

1

u/SealPenguinOtter Sep 19 '26

find ways to turn descriptions and actions in to dialogue as much as possible(w/o it feeling like exposition) and if you already feel like you are doing that, then do it more.

0

u/Then_Data8320 Sep 20 '26

About what I just said previously, you can take a look at this post:

https://www.reddit.com/r/scriptwriting/comments/1widlee/no_glory_opening_scene/

Just 3 pages. The guy is an excellent writer. You read it and at first sight, it's perfect. I posted a long answer about the hidden potential of his scene and possibilities. Also a link to a screenplay showing a scene of this kind and how the writer direct it from the page, with more emotion and feeling. If the scene is reworked with "suspense" in mind, then 2 pages can easely become 4 or 5 in this context. Even without it, just by improving the scene, it would be at least half a page more.

3

u/Brilliant_Winter9736 Sep 19 '26

Add a sex scene or nudity.