Written By: Norith Soth
To become a great screenwriter, you must… Kill Your Babies!
Think you have what it takes to be a great screenwriter? Are you cold blooded? Do you take your coffee black? Okay, tough guy, do you kill babies? You know, that amazing scene in your screenplay that serves no purpose, except to demonstrate your stupendous vocabulary?
KILL YOUR BABIES
James Cameron kills when he has to. Remember “Aliens”? Remember Paul Reiser’s character, Burke, the despicable company man who wanted so badly to make a profit, he tried to impregnate Sigourney Weaver and that cute little girl with aliens?
Well, in the movie, Burke is captured by Aliens and you never hear from him again. But in the script, this happens:
I might have to disagree with Cameron. Some people do deserve this, especially this creep. But this scene served no purpose except to laugh at a jerk who has baby alien growing in his chest. The trajectory was simple. Sigourney has to save the little girl and even the very sight of this scumbag, pregnant or not, would have hurt the tone. Kill your babies.
Short Script Gods 