I've been working on short versions of this for a few weeks now, and I think I'm finally at a finishing stage. One thing that sucks is that what works in the feature version of the screenplay doesn't work in the short version. Reactions have to be consistent with the size and scope of the story. Where the feature allows time for the characters to grow together on screen, the short leaves you only a few scenes in which to work. So the outcome has to be realistic.

SIDE NOTE: I guess technically it doesn't have to make sense or be realistic, but it helps.

So some of the things I wanted that are in the feature just don't work in the short version, and last night, after about two weeks of editing, I took a knife to the ending.

I really love the ending of the feature, and I wanted it to stay in the short, but it wasn't meant to be. One thing I've learned from this though - and it's admittedly not much of a lesson - but I can be a cold-hearted bastard when it comes to editing my own work. Another thing I've learned: It takes a lot to convince me. There are great swaths, even in the short, of the main character Eddie having to be convinced of the true nature of a woman he's met. And really, it's not Eddie that has to be convinced. It's me that has to be convinced. But I have to trust my audience to get the inference to this woman's true nature. Hopefully, when I look at the latest iteration of the script, I can make the changes to let that happen.