Rewriting

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  • Rewriting

    People think Polishing is Rewriting. Rewriting is structural. Polishing is for a better delivery of the information. Too many people think they nail their story on the first try and think it may need a tweak here and there but this is their story. They're sure. We all have done this. It's a stage of the writing process, truly I believe some people never get passed it. Some people stay in it longer than others.

    If you browse the script pages section you'll always see people's posts stating 'REWRITE or 2nd Draft', If you read both drafts they are nearly identical. Same scenes, same characters, a line or two of dialogue has been changed but character's exchange the same thoughts as before.

    When you say to yourself that you are really gonna rewrite your story and make it better. Create new scenes, go down different avenues.

    Early drafts of The Sixth Sense had the little boy(Haley Joel) the son of a detevtive, and the little boy was seeing the ghosts of the victims of a Crazy Serial Killer on the loose. There was no big twist till the seventh draft.

    Early drafts of American Beauty had a murder trial in the center of the plot. The opening scenes took place in a court room.

    Look how those two stories turned out. You can see how they are the same, but different too. How ideas were built upon. Good scenes tossed to the way side. Different directions taken.

    If you don't have a good, smart critic inside of you, you'll never be able to turn a good idea into a great script.
    Last edited by Cyfress; 10-23-2006, 09:28 PM. Reason: spelling

  • #2
    Re: Rewriting

    Good post.
    One meets his destiny often in the road he takes to avoid it. - French Proverb

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Rewriting

      Kudos, Cyfress. Instructive posting.
      A talent for drama is not a talent for writing, but is an ability to articulate human relationships.
      Gore Vidal

      "Aisatsu Yori Ensatsu"
      Money is better than compliments.


      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Rewriting

        Quite ironic really considering this thread was originally about the use of "WE SEE"

        Yeah that was obvious, but I don't care!

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Rewriting

          Cyfress: People think Polishing is Rewriting. Rewriting is structural. Polishing is for a better delivery of the information. Too many people think they nail their story on the first try and think it may need a tweak here and there but this is their story. They're sure. We all have done this. It's a stage of the writing process, truly I believe some people never get passed it. Some people stay in it longer than others.

          If you browse the script pages section you'll always see people's posts stating 'REWRITE or 2nd Draft', If you read both drafts they are nearly identical. Same scenes, same characters, a line or two of dialogue has been changed but character's exchange the same thoughts as before.
          One could also argue that someone might misconstrue structure with theme, since a writers previous draft may contain all of the structural elements necessary for an engaging story, regardless that the writer decided, later, to include new plot direction, character arc, which invariably changes story. [Your Alan Ball example]. He understood structure, even though his pages changed structurally:

          It also may not be that the writer misunderstands that a rewrite entails changing structure, but that they might like the direction of the piece at the time and may change their minds later. So, the word "polish" may be apropos, since the writer is comfortable with the particular direction of the pages. It's not that he/she is stuck, learning stunted, is ignorant, or isn't a good self-critic of the process of making good pages great; but that previous rewrites/avenues may had been done/explored many times before the pages were posted.

          That's just another way of looking at it. There's always two sides to every coin.

          KWV
          Last edited by Kwvillen; 10-25-2006, 05:53 AM.

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          • #6
            Re: Rewriting

            Surely there are times when a script is structurally sound and thematically rich, and a polish is all that's wanted or needed. But I agree with Cyfress that it's a common newbie mistake to think one is fixing one's script problems by looking at it only at the micro level -- that is, going through the script line by line as a copy editor.

            At some point, you do have to polish your script at the micro level, but that should be the last step in the process. The first thing to do when you're rewriting is to look at the big picture -- the rise and fall of the story and its emotional impact. If your script isn't emotionally satisfying as you want it to be, what can you do to correct it?

            Do we care about your lead character? How's the conflict between the protagonist and antagonist? Does the story build well? How's the pacing? Are any scenes redundant or in the wrong order? Is the theme muddled?

            There's little point in making dialog tweaks until you've taken care of macro character, plot and theme problems.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Rewriting

              Originally posted by Joaneasley View Post
              Surely there are times when a script is structurally sound and thematically rich, and a polish is all that's wanted or needed. But I agree with Cyfress that it's a common newbie mistake to think one is fixing one's script problems by looking at it only at the micro level -- that is, going through the script line by line as a copy editor.

              At some point, you do have to polish your script at the micro level, but that should be the last step in the process. The first thing to do when you're rewriting is to look at the big picture -- the rise and fall of the story and its emotional impact. If your script isn't emotionally satisfying as you want it to be, what can you do to correct it?

              Do we care about your lead character? How's the conflict between the protagonist and antagonist? Does the story build well? How's the pacing? Are any scenes redundant or in the wrong order? Is the theme muddled?

              There's little point in making dialog tweaks until you've taken care of macro character, plot and theme problems.

              Okay, people! Okay, I get it. I'll throw out my attempt at "Comedy!"

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Rewriting

                Originally posted by Joaneasley View Post
                Surely there are times when a script is structurally sound and thematically rich, and a polish is all that's wanted or needed. But I agree with Cyfress that it's a common newbie mistake to think one is fixing one's script problems by looking at it only at the micro level -- that is, going through the script line by line as a copy editor.

                At some point, you do have to polish your script at the micro level, but that should be the last step in the process. The first thing to do when you're rewriting is to look at the big picture -- the rise and fall of the story and its emotional impact. If your script isn't emotionally satisfying as you want it to be, what can you do to correct it?

                Do we care about your lead character? How's the conflict between the protagonist and antagonist? Does the story build well? How's the pacing? Are any scenes redundant or in the wrong order? Is the theme muddled?

                There's little point in making dialog tweaks until you've taken care of macro character, plot and theme problems.
                One of the most intelligent posts i've seen.
                "Take the thing you love, and make it your life"--Californication. [email protected]

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                • #9
                  Re: Rewriting

                  Whoa. Thanks!

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Rewriting

                    After finishing the most recent rewrites on my most recent screenplay, I look back at what I originally had to work with on the first draft and I see that it's very different from what I have now. And what I have now is also better.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Rewriting

                      Originally posted by Cyfress View Post
                      People think Polishing is Rewriting. Rewriting is structural. Polishing is for a better delivery of the information. Too many people think they nail their story on the first try and think it may need a tweak here and there but this is their story. They're sure. We all have done this. It's a stage of the writing process, truly I believe some people never get passed it. Some people stay in it longer than others.

                      If you browse the script pages section you'll always see people's posts stating 'REWRITE or 2nd Draft', If you read both drafts they are nearly identical. Same scenes, same characters, a line or two of dialogue has been changed but character's exchange the same thoughts as before.

                      When you say to yourself that you are really gonna rewrite your story and make it better. Create new scenes, go down different avenues.

                      Early drafts of The Sixth Sense had the little boy(Haley Joel) the son of a detevtive, and the little boy was seeing the ghosts of the victims of a Crazy Serial Killer on the loose. There was no big twist till the seventh draft.

                      Early drafts of American Beauty had a murder trial in the center of the plot. The opening scenes took place in a court room.

                      Look how those two stories turned out. You can see how they are the same, but different too. How ideas were built upon. Good scenes tossed to the way side. Different directions taken.

                      If you don't have a good, smart critic inside of you, you'll never be able to turn a good idea into a great script.
                      Wow. I believe this post was sent to me by God.
                      "The question isn't who will let me, but who is going to stop me?," -- Ayn Rand (via Howard Roark in The Fountainhead)

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Rewriting

                        Call me a nag, but I still think this site would be far more helpful if those of you who post long lessons and advice identify your experience at least in some small way. Remember, the most repeated quote in this town is, "Nobody knows anything."

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Rewriting

                          Originally posted by Marine66 View Post
                          Call me a nag, but I still think this site would be far more helpful if those of you who post long lessons and advice identify your experience at least in some small way. Remember, the most repeated quote in this town is, "Nobody knows anything."
                          If something rings true to you, use it. If it doesn't, then don't.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: Rewriting

                            Originally posted by Marine66 View Post
                            Call me a nag, but I still think this site would be far more helpful if those of you who post long lessons and advice identify your experience at least in some small way.
                            No experience is necessary to post factual information about previous drafts of highly successful screenplays.

                            But then again...I'm a nobody who knows nothing.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: Rewriting

                              Originally posted by Biohazard View Post
                              But then again...I'm a nobody who knows nothing.
                              Good. It's the only thing that will keep you sane.

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