Draft theories...

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  • Draft theories...

    Just throwing out a survey to gauge how you guys go about the various stages of screenplay development.

    For instance, is your first draft rough and ready, raw and messy? Do you bang it out in a matter of days and then work backwards with the fine tuning? Or do you try and perfect it as you go?

    As for your second draft, is it just a continuation of what you started in draft one? Do you toss away the first draft and start completely from scratch? How closely do you follow the content of the first draft?

    Is it possible for your first draft to be your final draft?

    I've heard so many different theories on how to go from first draft to second draft to final draft. I've got my own ideas - and I've used them to write half a dozen screenplays of my own - but I just wondered what the consensus was on here...

  • #2
    Re: Draft theories...

    Never trust consensus.

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    • #3
      Re: Draft theories...

      It's different strokes for different folks.

      You have to do it the way that works for you.

      You will never produce a first draft that ought to be your final draft (assuming, of course, that your subsequent drafts do not totally foul up what you had already accomplished with the first draft).

      "The fact that you have seen professionals write poorly is no reason for you to imitate them." - ComicBent.

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      • #4
        Re: Draft theories...

        In programming we call it refactoring.

        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_refactoring

        You should refine your lump of coal to a diamond. It is a living document and really, it's what most writing is, imo, rewriting.

        Just know when to move on to the next project, which is an art itself.
        The best way out is always through. - Robert Frost

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        • #5
          Re: Draft theories...

          Originally posted by zenplato View Post
          In programming we call it refactoring.

          http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_refactoring

          You should refine your lump of coal to a diamond. It is a living document and really, it's what most writing is, imo, rewriting.

          Just know when to move on to the next project, which is an art itself.
          That's kind of what I'm struggling with right now. I've just finished a first draft to something I really love and have been mulling over for months, but don't know where (more accurately when) to go next.

          I've got two other ideas I really want to get started on but, at the same time, I don't want to just walk away from my current screenplay at first base.

          Do I start on the other(s) and then go back to my original lover? Or do I stay loyal and fight through draft after draft in the never-ending battle for perfection?

          Maybe a threesome's in order.

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          • #6
            Re: Draft theories...

            Originally posted by The Dude View Post
            Do I start on the other(s) and then go back to my original lover? Or do I stay loyal and fight through draft after draft in the never-ending battle for perfection?

            Maybe a threesome's in order.
            Starting new projects is what gets my juices flowing so my advice is to start the new thing. You'll come back to your original with a new perspective and enthusiasm.

            And a threesome is always in order.

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            • #7
              Re: Draft theories...

              Yeah, I agree with Goat...nothing wrong with putting your script down for a few weeks and then going back to it with fresh eyes. You'll find some of it works, other parts, not so much.

              With each project you start, and each day you write, you're getting more skilled--hopefully.

              If you can read some screenplays in between, you'll be amazed at how much you can refactor and refine in your script from its original state.

              Best of luck!
              The best way out is always through. - Robert Frost

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              • #8
                Re: Draft theories...

                There's no right or wrong way to produce a completed screenplay. When it's finished, it's, well, finished.

                I hate rewriting, so I tend to develop the story and polish scenes in my head before putting anything down on paper. When I eventually type 'FADE OUT' it's pretty much done, apart from a bit of tidying and few read throughs for typos. I also run it by some trusted readers, which might prompt a little reorganisation and maybe some changes.

                Lots of people write screenplays, but it is still very much an individual journey as to how you get there; and this board is the last place to look for consensus on anything, particularly screenwriting.
                TimeStorm & Blurred Vision Book info & blog: https://stormingtime.com//

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                • #9
                  Re: Draft theories...

                  Yeah, it does help to wait on making changes for a few weeks. Hopefully you can get feedback within that time as well.

                  So far, I don't consider myself to have done a massive rewrite on anything, though I may do one for one of my earlier scripts. I tend to revise as I go. I think of new ideas, new scenes, decide I hate other ones, etc. By the time I'm done with the first draft, it feels more like a second draft.

                  But yeah, different for everyone.

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                  • #10
                    Re: Draft theories...

                    for me it evolves and changes. now first drafts are pretty much a mixture of a treatment and scenes and stream of consciousness.

                    it gets a little bit easier everytime but it's never 'easy'/
                    You only get one chance to rewrite it 100 times.

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                    • #11
                      Re: Draft theories...

                      As has been pointed out there's no one right way.

                      However some food for thought. Most professional screenwriters support themselves off of writing assignments, not spec sales.

                      When you are working on assignment you are operating under time constraints and your fee is usually paid out in installments which are tied to the delivery of material. So that means you need to be able to write a first draft in three months or four months or whatever the contract calls for and that you will have to submit your next draft in an even shorter timeframe (most contracts include at least two drafts.)

                      You will almost certainly get notes from the producer between drafts, but the notes are not always helpful and may lead you to discover additional problems rather than providing solutions to problems. But you still need to deliver a second draft that's better than the first draft in the specified time.

                      Also when you are writing on assignment you have to be able to deliver a first draft that isn't nauseatingly bad. When I work on assignment, I work at a pace that allows me to do some rewriting before I submit the "first draft". So if I have an eight week window, I'll aim to finish the first pass in six and then rewrite the hell out of the thing.

                      Purely as practice to prepare you for real world, you may want to challenge yourself to do another draft now, rather than setting it aside and moving on to something else.

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                      • #12
                        Re: Draft theories...

                        But, to balance out the perspective, I once sold a first draft, a spec, that took about six months to write. With breaks of a few weeks here and there in between, and a bit of tweaking along the way.

                        Sold, as in sold, one draft only.... (sold). So, that is another reality.

                        (as in the real world)

                        Mind you, I do a lot of groundwork. I don't discover my structure or my story as I go, I have a grip on theme, characters, more like a detailed painting, rather than a light sketch, before I start.

                        Most other scripts I've completed and sold have needed about three drafts all up, second and third really only being subtle tweaks, not rewrites, and at least a month in between each.

                        But even in the early days, I was never into rewriting. Eew, why the hell would you write it wrong in the first place, gross.

                        (eew)

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                        • #13
                          Re: Draft theories...

                          Originally posted by The Dude View Post
                          That's kind of what I'm struggling with right now. I've just finished a first draft to something I really love and have been mulling over for months, but don't know where (more accurately when) to go next.
                          Some people rewrite as they go along, so they rewrite whatever they have written (or part of it) before they continue. Advantage: you sharpen your idea of the script.

                          Other people bang out a messy first draft. I tried this. Not for me. Especially in the second half of a messy first draft you will see that certain things in the beginning are not that well defined, and you need this definition, this detail, to know about the later stages.

                          How does this concern you? You seem to have written a messy first draft. You don't know what to do? Why don't you know it? Is your first draft so far away from what you had in mind? Or didn't you have anything specific in mind and just fired away? I'm not judging here (I don't know your script), I'm just asking questions. One of the answers might be helpful to you.

                          PS: I'm also a writer who writes on more than one project at a time. If you feel that's a good thing for you, go ahead. Nobody can give you tips. You have to find everything out for yourself. This is why writing cannot be taught. There are very few outlines that can be given from one person to the other, but all the other things about this process are extremely personal. Best thing for you is to read all the replies (including your own), and see what rings true for you.
                          "Ecco il grande Zampano!"

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                          • #14
                            Re: Draft theories...

                            Also, I believe that over time you grow to understand your own processes. Whatever they are.

                            And that that is part of the process.

                            And for me, that involves taking on a different process for every script. I'm easily bored, so adapting the writing process to each individual story and premise and structure, is what keeps it interesting for me.

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                            • #15
                              Re: Draft theories...

                              Well, that's it then.

                              I re-write as I go. My first draft is written as if it's the last. I plan an in-depth treatment beforehand, mull over themes and characters for weeks in my mind (later a document), and then have the full painting in my eye before I spit anything on the actual canvas. I meticulously write the screenplay - nothing rushed, messy or off-the-cuff.

                              Because I'm a magazine writer by trade, the idea of second and third drafts is perhaps something foreign to me. I'm used to things being neat, tidy and perfect first time. I'm never usually afforded the time to do further drafts of something.

                              That's how I write my screenplays. I don't touch a word before I know who and what I'm writing about. I don't move on to the next scene until everything in the previous scene appears (to me, at least - though I'm no judge) perfect.

                              I think that's why the idea of further drafts - essentially re-writing from scratch - bothers me so much. Don't get me wrong, I understand the benefits of going over old ground and entering a situation with a fresh pair of eyes - I just don't know whether that's for me. I spend weeks going over that original first draft - longer than it took to write the thing - and I'll be re-wriring scenes, deleting scene and tidying up any mess. That seems to be my method of choice, anyway.

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