Big John August & Scriptnotes podcast fan, so have seen this many times. I really like #2 -- sort of another way of asking WHY? WHY is this scene in here? Why is it necessary? What function is it serving? Because if it doesn't belong, if it can be extracted and no one cares -- no matter how much you may personally love the scene -- it's gotta go. I also really like, but don't always pay heed to #7. Or maybe I just look at it differently --- I'm always asking myself how "late" can I come into a scene? I'm always chopping at the beginning and ending of scenes ... and never miss a beat! :-) I listened to the Brian Koppelman podcast (THE MOMENT, 5/20/14) -- his interview with John Hamburg. The entire interview was fantastic, but I loved John's "road map / checklist" for each scene --- 4-5 questions he asks while outlining, and then revisits again while writing: -- what's the point of the scene? --what do the characters want? --what's the conflict? --how does it turn? --how is it funny? (if it's supposed to be) And his overarching question: DOES THE SCENE MOVE THE STORY FORWARD? Lots of ways to look at all this. I, for one, can never get enough nudges/reminders/pokes about the subject, so thanks for delving in!

Yeah, #2 is a good one. I've added it to my scene checklist.