Writing dialogue that survives a scope cut

Narrative is usually the first thing cut and the last thing budgeted. Writing defensively helps.

Practical habits:

• Front-load meaning. If a conversation gets cut to its first two lines, those lines should still carry the point.
• Avoid dependencies between optional content. If an optional NPC references an optional event, cutting one breaks the other.
• Keep barks separate from story. Combat and idle lines are cheap and survive cuts; cutscenes are expensive and do not.
• Lean on environmental storytelling. It scales down gracefully — a room can tell a story with no words at all.

What has your team cut, and what did you wish you had written differently?