Reader Question: How do you know when you’re really done with a script?
GITS reader willxmnm just found and read A Script Reader Speaks, a 6-part Q&A I did with D.C. Mar, friend, writer, and long-time script reader / story analyst. This led to a question from willxmnm I’m sure all of us can relate to:
Scott, I just finished my first screenplay and reading DC Mar’s comments have inspired me to go back once again and scrutinize my writing page by page, paragraph by paragraph, for the hundredth time. How do you know when it’s time to say, “Enough! It’s done! Send the damn thing away!”
I suppose it’s possible that once you are really done with a screenplay, the clouds will part, the skies open, and a chorus of angels in glorious four-part harmony will sing, “Thou art done! Thou art done! Holy Crap, Thou art finally done!”
But more often — not.
For professional screenwriters, there is an objective reality which signifies the completion of your script: The third frantic phone call from your agent telling you if you don’t turn in the draft today, the studio will hire a hit man to gun you down. In other words, there are contractual obligations and specified due dates (it used to be 12 weeks for a first draft, but the studios have been futzing with that number to make it shorter).
But if you’re a pre-pro writer or a working writer knocking out a spec script, how do you know when you’re done? Here’s a few questions to ask before you send off a script:
* How many drafts have you written? If it’s less than three, then there’s a good chance it needs more work. A first draft, an extensive rewrite, and an in-depth polish — you almost always need at least those three drafts.
* Have you given your script to people to read? If you haven’t, then you’re most likely not doing yourself any favors because when we write, our eyeballs go ‘soft’ — we tend to fall in love with our words, we miss obvious mistakes, we don’t see redundancies. In other words, we get too attached to and comfortable with our writing. You need other eyeballs to give you a fresh perspective. But not just any eyeballs. While it may be nice to have your spouse, friends, and co-workers fawn over your script, unless they have some background as a writer, you’re likely not receiving the type of critique you need. So find some people who have writing backgrounds, particularly screenwriting, and let them provide an honest appraisal of your material. Depending upon those responses, you may need to do a rewrite, or maybe only tweak the script — but at least you will have gotten a fresh appraisal of the material.
* Does the script compare favorably to a successful movie? Find a movie that is the same genre and similar in tone to the script you’ve written. Watch that movie, studying how it flows. Do you honestly think your script compares favorably to that movie? Does it have as strong of a story structure? Are your characters as sharply defined as the movie? Does your dialogue sound as cinematic as the movie? Is the pace of your script on par with the movie? You may think this is a tough way to critique your script, but in all honesty, that’s what’s going to happen when your screenplay gets submitted to Hwood — readers don’t compare your script to average or sub-par material, but rather successful movies. If you find your script doesn’t measure up to the movie, then you need to dig deeper into the story and characters, and make the script better.
Finally, there’s the existential test: Print out a copy of the script. Go to a quiet room. Shut the door. Turn off the computer and cellphone. Sit on the floor. Hold the script in your lap. And just sit there. That’s right — sit. Think about the script as dispassionately as you can all the while asking yourself, “Is this script ready?” Do that for 15–20 minutes. If at the end of this meditative session, you feel in your heart of hearts the answer is yes, and you’ve done the three things I’ve cited above, then I would say your script is ready to go.
How about you? How do you determine if your script is done or not?
UPDATE: Promoted from comments, this from matisseman:
“How do you know when your script is ready? When the only choice is do another draft or blow your brains out.”
- Max Wong, producer
I think that sums it up for me.
Classic!
[Originally posted 1/4/10]
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