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Writing may be rewriting, but…

Scott Myers

• 1 min read
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…how the hell do you know what to do? What questions should you ask? What areas should you focus on? How can you determine what works in a script and what doesn’t? Is there a coherent, actionable process for rewriting?

I’ve heard these type of questions from writers for many years. Indeed I’ve felt the frustration myself in my own writing. Over time, I developed a pretty intuitive approach. Then when I started teaching and was asked to come up with a rewriting workshop, I discovered there was an internal logic to the way I handled the rewrite process.

That all led to this: Pages II: Rewriting Your Script. It’s a 10-week workshop. The first four weeks focus on analyzing your script, identifying story issues, brainstorming solutions, then putting together a revision outline.

Week 1: A Clean Read. Here you assess your script in four ways:

  • Characters [Protagonist in relation to the others]
  • Themes [layers of emotional meaning of the story]
  • Structure [Plotline and subplots]
  • Pace [narrative drive and narrative flow]

Week 2: Characters and Themes. You explore specific remedies with regard to these interrelated aspects of your script.

Week 3: Structure and Pace. You work and rework the Plotline and subplots, scenes and sequences to construct a strong narrative drive.

Week 4: Revision Outline. Using your new understanding of characters, themes, structure and pace, you put together a scene-by-scene outline of the revised story.

With the Revision Outlines as your guide, you devote the last six weeks to rewriting your script.

Since it’s a workshop, you get the benefit of feedback from other writers and of course me, both written comments and biweekly teleconferences.

Or if you prefer, I’m happy to do a private version of the Pages II workshop [you can email me directly].

The main thing is this: If you do the work and fully engage your story, Pages II offers an approach that works. Once you learn it, you can use it on all future script projects.

So if you’ve got a problematic script. Perhaps one that just needs a polish. Or you need a structured workshop environment to motivate yourself to finish that story.

Whatever your circumstance, if your script needs a rewrite, I invite you to join me in the upcoming Pages II: Rewriting Your Script workshop.

It begins Monday, September 17 and there are a couple of slots left. So sign up now!

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