Tagged: screenplays
One month off
A family holiday during August coincided with my completing work on a number of screenplay stages. I completed the first draft of one, a scene by scene outline of a second and a treatment for a third.
The holiday took me away from my computer and notebooks, so I found myself taking a break from all three projects for nearly a month. I returned to them with fresh eyes last month.
I’ve often baulked at the oft-given advice that one should put a newly-completed screenplay draft away for a month before reading over it: I wondered what one could do in the meantime, and satisfied myself with working on other projects.
On my return, I went straight into writing the first draft of my scene by scene outlined screenplay, while making notes on expanding the treatment. As to the first draft, I’ve started reading through it.
I knew that when writing it there were many problems with the story: it was misshapen; characters were under-developed; the story lacked drive. Only by going back to it and starting the rewriting process can any of these problems be solved. And only by being away from this draft for a month was I able to look at it with fresh eyes.
Screenplays all start somewhere and while my particular first draft needs a lot of work, it actually exists, and what needs to be worked on can now be seen. There may be a germ of a good idea in it, but unless that idea can be worked on, there’s little purpose to it.
Michaela Coel’s “I May Destroy You” went through 191 drafts. Jordan Peele’s “Get Out” went through 200 drafts. One of my favourite directors takes many years over his screenplays.
I hope to add a fourth screenplay project to the three screenplays I’m working on. Many new drafts need to follow in the months and years to come. As I write more and more drafts, I realise that writing well takes a great amount of time.
Cracking it
Writing continues, with a treatment for a screenplay being worked on.
Normally I have rushed through this step, hoping to iron out any problems with the outline or scene by scene stage, but not this time. I have worked on the treatment for this story repeatedly before moving onto the next stage. I think I’ve cracked the story… almost.
At the moment, the story’s as good as I can get it. Improvements can only come with more details as I fill out scenes, develop more characters and and format supporting stories. It’s been a painstaking stage, but this process of building the story before before writing the screenplay has been enormously rewarding.
Finding my way
I’d recently written about my need for extensive planning with my screenplays. Right now, I am outlining one screenplay, scene by scene; while ironing out the treatment of another. But interesting things are also happening with the third screenplay.
This screenplay is outlined, but not to the point of a scene by scene list. Writing has been slow and meandering at times, with my having to fill in blank spots that I should have ironed out in the planning. But every now and then a revelation comes up in the process of writing that I didn’t expect: a plot turn or line of dialogue that I didn’t imagine; the story coming alive as I write.
This is not how I’d like to write in future. The hope of writing something interesting, rather than planning something that I want to write, isn’t an ideal prospect when working on a 90 page screenplay. But these moments of revelation have been pleasantly surprising.
Chipping Away
Screenwriting continues.
I find that as I put more thought into preparing the treatments, outlines and scene-by-scenes, I’m chipping away at the story problems that have had a tendency to crop up when I’m writing the screenplay proper.
The long, puzzling preparation can be frustrating at times, but it is well worth it to avoid those moments I’ve had when struggling through a page.
My greatest hope is to take the preparation to such a stage that I cannot wait to write the scenes: the attraction of having an air-tight story with scenes one is excited to depict is huge.
I’ve nearly broken the spine of one screenplay treatment and I am going to start work on the scene-by-scene list on another: still a long way from the writing, but the foundations will be solid.
Learning
Scriptwriting continues, with three screenplays at different stages. In each, I have learned a technique I will be definitely sticking to in future.
I completed the outline of one script today, which I’m very excited about. The story intrigues me and I want to tell it well. The next script is a rewrite, following a first round of feedback from beta readers. It should be a leaner, more focused rewrite. Lastly is a screenplay that I am currently writing from a completed outline, page by page.
Each screenplay, at their different stages, has taught me the importance of meticulous planning. As I write the screenplay pages from the outline, I find that I have not planned it well enough: my pages meander. The script rewrite planning is at treatment stage and the story needs to be completely ironed out before I start rewriting the screenplay itself.
The experience of these screenplays has seen me change my approach to writing. Normally, with an outline complete, I would go straight to writing the screenplay. Now, I want to go one planning stage further and write a scene by scene plan. Here, I can work out precisely what’s happening and where in the screenplay. I can also summarise how a scene is going to progress in itself.
My hope is that all this preparation will make the act of writing screenplays more focused: often, I have got lost in a scene, not knowing where the conflict is or where it fits into the wider story. The meticulous scene by scene plan, be it on a list or on index cards, can greatly assist on this.
In any case, I have learned this by writing scene plays day by day, page by page, scene by scene. The practice is making the process better, if not perfect.
Screenplays
Following on from making a feature and some short films, I found myself wanting to return to the longer screenplay format.
I’m working on three speculative screenplays, all at different stages, and while working on them has had its difficulties, the process has been enjoyable so far.
Over the years, I have come across many screenwriting techniques, tips and instructions. At the moment, all I can vouch for is the techniques of writing every day: it has made the practise of writing less onerous; the sight of a completed, but unsatisfying screenplay that can be worked on is way more attractive than an unfinished script, abandoned due to its not achieving perfection in its first draft.
My technique (such as it is) is to write a little every day. I am currently planning one screenplay while writing another. I’d like to see how this progresses with more concurrent writing but for now, this will do.
The view from above
While a current screenplay draft is being read and evaluated, I realised that the worst thing I could do on a writing level was wait until I got feedback to continue writing. There are other screenplays to get on with, so I’ve begun to write them in the interim.
I’ve learned something with every screenplay I’ve written (which is why if I had my time again, I would have written a heck of a lot more by now). In writing my most recent story, by veering somewhat from the scene by scene outline I’d prepared, I learned that what appealed most to me was planning as much as possible before the actual writing began.
I’d definitely read about the value of planning from other writers: Bang2Write‘s blog frequently refers to this and Rachel Aaron‘s terrific blog entry on building her writing productivity is an inspiration, but I seemingly had to learn this for myself in my own practise.
The current screenplays I’m working on are a mixture of first drafts and page one rewrites. I’ve taken ideas, formed log lines and written synopses, which I’m currently building into longer treatments. It’s been a difficult, but fascinatingly useful process: I’ve seen stories that are misshapen, or need expanding, or just need finishing; the stories’ faults show up pretty quickly, as if they’re being viewed very clearly from above.
This can only be for the good: I’d rather find out what’s wrong with a story before I started writing its screenplay. There is another attraction: like Ms. Aaron, I want to plan scenes that I can’t wait to write, which hopefully will make screenplays one would delight in reading. Scene by scene outlines are next.
Screenplay
Earlier this month, I started work on a new screenplay that I hope to film in September.
Although I’ve written a number of screenplays, I feel that I’ve never quite “cracked” the process of screenwriting. I’ve ready many books on screenwriting technique, attended lectures on screenwriting and heeded the words of other screenwriters, but when I start a new screenplay, I always feel like I’m writing for the first time.
I’m currently reading through the Writer’s Guild of America West’s list of 101 Greatest Screenplays. The screenplays therein are a delight, but it’s important to remember that they are final drafts: written and rewritten many times to the enjoyable perfection I can read. Mistakes were made. At times they didn’t make sense. They all needed improvement prior to presentation.
I need to remember this as I write. The drafts I write can be critiqued and rethought, improved and polished, written and rewritten until their final presentation. That doesn’t call for any particular technique; it just calls for writing. Daily writing until that draft is finished, followed by consideration and rewriting, daily, until that draft has been finished. And so on.
It’s taken me so long to realise that excellence isn’t instant. It’s from constant effort and hard work; a full time job, in a way. This goes for writing, photography, filmmaking, drawing, indeed any creative or vocational pursuit. There’s no magic trick, just hard work.
I’ll be putting in this effort as I write this screenplay.
Burning Details 
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