Fastest turnaround on writing?

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  • Fastest turnaround on writing?

    So what's yours? I thought I was really charging along when I completed my first script, a high concept action piece, in about six weeks (then spent a couple months on revisions based on suggestions from my producing partner). But I blew that right out of the water last week. I started a comedy on the 4th of July and completed it on the 8th, revised and proofed it yesterday, and sent it out today. So that's less than a week from beginning to end to submission. I didn't even think that was possible, especially for my easily distracted arse, but apparently I was wrong.

    So I was curious your fastest turnaround on a full length feature spec. Not necessarily from having/developing the concept or idea, but from actually typing FADE IN to THE END? And what genres do you seem to churn out more quickly?

    Cheers.

  • #2
    Re: Fastest turnaround on writing?

    I've turned sizable rewrites around in a day or less. Speedy first drafts are something I'm still working on, though.
    Patrick Sweeney

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    • #3
      Re: Fastest turnaround on writing?

      My last script might have been my best turnaround yet.
      FADE IN: - March 10th
      QUERY - March 17th
      FADE OUT: - March 19th (morning)
      SUBMIT : March 19th (afternoon)
      RESPONSE (Reps/Producers) : April 1st - May 14th
      OPTIONED : May 14th

      A little over 2 months.

      My current screenplay.
      FADE IN: July 5th
      FADE OUT: (Shooting for July 15th)

      I write faster when I know someone wants to read it (ie. Manager, producer, etc).
      Last edited by Tigre de Oro; 07-10-2010, 10:17 AM.

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      • #4
        Re: Fastest turnaround on writing?

        And what genres were the fastest for you?

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        • #5
          Re: Fastest turnaround on writing?

          If I was to chart out by the genres I have written.

          7 Days - Drama, Thriller
          10 Days - Horror, Crime/Mystery
          14 Days - Action/Adventure
          21 Days - War/Military, Science Fiction, or anything that requires a lot of research.

          I feel I am fastest with the Action genre and its sub-genres though.

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          • #6
            Re: Fastest turnaround on writing?

            First script I ever wrote took 3 Days. Got an option offer on it on the 2nd call I made. Literally.

            The average for my scripts now is 4-5 days and the writing is a lot better than the first one I did.

            When I write a script I make 20 pages a day a minimum. In the morning for 2.5 hours is at least 10 pages. 2.5 hours at night is usually a little more like 10-15 for some reason. Biorhythms perhaps. I usually do from about page 70 on in one spurt though because I know it's almost done so it's easier to bear down at the end.

            If the script was already completely beat out however, I could probably do one in 2 days because you're really just filling in the blanks at that point. Never tried a 2 day script but I have written 45 pages in one day before so as long as I didn't get lost in the wilderness of act II I'm pretty sure I could do it.

            Genre doesn't matter so much but mine run the gamut from Crichton-esque stuff (first thing I wrote) to comedy (most lauded script so far took 4 days). The thinking of them is a whole other story. That can take months. But I think of several at a time so it's not so bad.

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            • #7
              Re: Fastest turnaround on writing?

              I used to do those 3-Day screenplays until I realized how slow the read/respond process can be. I'd write, query, and submit all in the same week, and then it would take 2-4 weeks to hear back. By then, I had become so impatient with the business.

              And seasons matter for me too. In the winter, I can do 3-4 scripts a month. But as soon as May/June comes along, I am less and less at my PC.

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              • #8
                Re: Fastest turnaround on writing?

                So these options that all of you are signing with your scripts. Are they at least mid-four figures or five?

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                • #9
                  Re: Fastest turnaround on writing?

                  Originally posted by Hamboogul View Post
                  So these options that all of you are signing with your scripts. Are they at least mid-four figures or five?
                  The one I signed is mid-four, and equaling a low-five *smack* if it goes into production. The first one I officially optioned was a dollar option/shoppers agreement mix.

                  Had to edit, but this Waikiki internet is slow as ****.

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                  • #10
                    Re: Fastest turnaround on writing?

                    Damn, I thought I was fast.

                    You guys got me beat.

                    Congrats on you success.

                    Jeff Shurtleff
                    "Some men see things the way they are and say why? I see things that never were and say, why not?"

                    http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?...4669871&v=info

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                    • #11
                      Re: Fastest turnaround on writing?

                      So I was curious your fastest turnaround on a full length feature spec. Not necessarily from having/developing the concept or idea, but from actually typing FADE IN to THE END? And what genres do you seem to churn out more quickly?
                      This topic is bound to create some envy or nausea, but I like it!

                      However, to each to their own. I hope someday each of us produces a Citizen Kane in ten days, but everyone's different.

                      Some muddle through a year or more per script, or write five concurrently, or one each first year of every decade, while others seem more productive, but produce crap, or the same thing, over and over.

                      Personally, my goal is to produce the "next great thing", not the "next same thing".

                      Anyway, I thought I was going too fast, but from the sounds of this topic... unless it's a belated April Fools joke...

                      With working full-time elsewhere (or trying to earn enough to pay bills), my best has been 15 days. A contest deadline (when I was interested in pursuing such things) was the motivation. It has, by the way, gone to the next round in that particular contest (PAGE).

                      But with me it's the system, more than subject matter or availability.

                      My early, "fan fiction" days meant starting from a blank page one and coming up for air, 2 months and 3 scripts later.

                      Or what one might "call" scripts.

                      Now I do the serious logline and outline thing, spending 2/3 of the time (two weeks) on that. Then the script's a breeze, working from an outline. About one week each, the last four of 'em.

                      So, about 3 weeks, concept to final "writer's" draft. Nothing sold yet, but one got me an assignment -- it was out of the prodco's budget range.

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                      • #12
                        Re: Fastest turnaround on writing?

                        Innnteresting replies.

                        I dunno why but the concept of time is really interesting to me. A bit Mad Hattery that way. So I find it interesting to know about how fellow writers utilize it and how quickly.

                        Anyway, Hamboogul, I detect some sarcasm with your reply...I surely hope I am mistaken. I personally don't think the amount of time it takes to write has anything to do with quality, and therefore success. I've known successful writers who've written million dollar screenplays in two weeks and I've known aspiring writers who've spent YEARS on screenplays yet never made a sale worthy of mentioning. The story is either good or it's not. The writing is either solid or it's not. The idea is either viable in the market or it's not. Whether it takes you a year or a day to write is up to you, how much time you have to sit and write, and how easily your ideas are able to flow out on paper, er, via your fingers.

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                        • #13
                          Re: Fastest turnaround on writing?

                          Seriously?
                          4 days. I wrote what I feel is probably my best work (well, my personal favourite at least) in just [b[three[/b] (marathon) sittings, taking one day off to mull over something in the back of my mind which didn't work in the script the same way it did in my head.

                          Of course, this was a first draft (and I've never actually written another).
                          Cufk, Tish, Sips.

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                          • #14
                            Re: Fastest turnaround on writing?

                            Too bad they don't give Oscars for fastest written screenplay.

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                            • #15
                              Re: Fastest turnaround on writing?

                              An Oscar is the last thing on a majority of writer's minds, no matter how fast they write.

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