Rewrites - how do you stay fresh?

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  • #16
    Re: Rewrites - how do you stay fresh?

    So many screenwriters feel the urge to cling. They cling onto what they have had since the first or second draft like grim death just because it was the original stuff. But sometimes that is like clinging onto a sinking ship. They just tweak the original stuff indefinitely when what is really needed is a full removal and transplant. Some think writers do this out of laziness, but it is really done out of fear. Fear that they will not be able to come up with anything better. Fear that making large changes will make their entire house of cards fall down. The fear over admitting their original ideas may have not been so brilliant.

    Remember that it is called RE-writing, which literally means to write it all over again. It's not called "Tweaking" or "Adjusting". Think of every draft as creating the story all over again, but a lot better this time. I think using computers had contributed greatly to the habit of tweaking rather than rewriting. Back in the typewriter days, the writer would have to literally write every single draft over again.

    Remember the story of Noah from the Bible? Even God didn't get things perfect the first time. So he kept what he liked and wiped out the rest to start over. Sometimes you need to do a Noah Draft.
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    • #17
      Re: Rewrites - how do you stay fresh?

      Originally posted by SCRIPTMONK!!! View Post
      Sometimes you need to do a Noah Draft.
      Otherwise known as the draft you write after the forty flushes it took to send the previous one down the toilet.

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      • #18
        Re: Rewrites - how do you stay fresh?

        If you are on your own (not doing rewrites for some producer who wanted them yesterday) the best thing to do is alternate screenplays. This allows you a fresh set of eyes when you write FADE OUT on script #2 and get back to rewriting script #1. You have forgotten some of it. And this works even better if you are juggling more screenplays. More characters and stories means you forget and don't burn out as fast, plus there's the "cross training" element where work on script #7 teaches you something that helps on script #2.

        But eventually there is some burn out, and for that part of the solution is personal involvement in the story. You want to be telling some story that has a personal emotional connection, so that you can dig deeper into the story with each draft... instead of it just being some thing that has zero to do with you.

        It's tough when it's an assignment, because you are on their clock. Ages ago when I had two projects going at the same time, I managed to alternate scripts because I managed to set up the *reading period* for one script at the same time I was supposed to be doing the next draft of the other (and back and forth). Still overdid it and ended up with walking pneumonia.

        It's like a marriage, you have to keep falling in love.

        Bill
        Free Script Tips:
        http://www.scriptsecrets.net

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        • #19
          Re: Rewrites - how do you stay fresh?

          Originally posted by SCRIPTMONK!!! View Post
          So many screenwriters feel the urge to cling. They cling onto what they have had since the first or second draft like grim death just because it was the original stuff. But sometimes that is like clinging onto a sinking ship. They just tweak the original stuff indefinitely when what is really needed is a full removal and transplant. Some think writers do this out of laziness, but it is really done out of fear. Fear that they will not be able to come up with anything better. Fear that making large changes will make their entire house of cards fall down. The fear over admitting their original ideas may have not been so brilliant.

          Remember that it is called RE-writing, which literally means to write it all over again. It's not called "Tweaking" or "Adjusting". Think of every draft as creating the story all over again, but a lot better this time. I think using computers had contributed greatly to the habit of tweaking rather than rewriting. Back in the typewriter days, the writer would have to literally write every single draft over again.

          Remember the story of Noah from the Bible? Even God didn't get things perfect the first time. So he kept what he liked and wiped out the rest to start over. Sometimes you need to do a Noah Draft.
          See, I personally don't work much this way though.

          Only twice have I completely threw away what I initially wrote and started 100% over at page one.

          For me the inspiration process sets in and I go to crafting a story. I outline like mad. I'll spend a very long time in the outlining process until I have a really great story to tell. THEN I write the full screenplay. I won't even begin writing until I have the best story possible. And because of that I don't get the feeling, during revisions, that I need to alter the entire plot or cut out two or three characters. For me, there is definitely a time to rewrite the story and the plot as best as possible, and that's during the rigorous months of planning before I ever open Final Draft.

          Also, I write a lot. If something is just not working I tend to toss it to the side as opposed to rewriting it.

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