If you go to the Special Features and then the Deleted Scenes and read through all of those, you might notice that the character of Officer Lois Early gets shrunk down considerably. In most cases it was just pacing issues, where I needed to cut scenes she just happened to be in.
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| Det. Lottie Donovan |
Some of those scenes go more in-depth about the relationship between Detective Lottie Donovan and Officer Early. Not "relationship" in that sense. In some of the material that's cut it's detailed more how Lois and Lottie came from the same neighborhood--the rough Trenches area--and both attended the police academy, where they became good friends.
From there the two took different career and life paths. While Lottie focused almost pathologically on her career and putting dangerous criminals behind bars, Lois focused more on starting a family. By the time
A Hero's Journey begins, Lois has a couple of kids and a husband in a suburban neighborhood while Lottie has a tiny apartment that's usually empty.
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| Officer Lois Early |
In some of those deleted scenes as well, Lois cautions Lottie to slow down and quit making waves. This was supposed to show how their divergent career paths had shaped different outlooks. Lois, having a family, wants to come home safe at the end of the day and keep her job while Lottie continues to work hard and piss off anyone she feels like in her pursuit of justice.
It is too bad that stuff got cut because I think it helps both characters look a bit more human.
(
Fun Fact: Lois Early's name is a bastardization of Emma's mother's name: Louise Earl. They're supposed to look very similar, which in the original draft of the story had a pivotal role to play in the plot. Not so much after revisions. So it goes.)
M is for Marie Marsh: The Mystery Woman
5 comments:
Making sure comments work today, damn it.
It is hard to make everyone in a story have motivations that make sense and the story not become so long as to be unreadable. I guess we have to all make tough decisions sometimes. I haven't actually read any deleted scenes though, I want to know as little about the story as I can before I read it. Deleted scenes are for after I've read the book.
It's so important to know which scenes need to be eliminated and which ones are crucial. This is why they give an Academy Award for Best Film Editing. When they bring out Director's versions of films with extra footage, I can always see why these scenes were cut in the first place.
I'm slashing characters right now in my story that I'm writing. It's gotta be done.
Show don't tell! A book is a better read when a character is interrupted say climbing a slippery, wet overhang and hears something moving nearby.
Keep the reader guessing!
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