Rewriting Your Screenplay | The Athletic Nerd

Is My Screenplay Ready For Competitions?

A few weeks ago, I gathered all of the short screenplays I’ve written over the years that I believe would make good short films.

In the end, there was around 10 solid scripts that I was happy with.

Next, I sent the list to my producing partner Eric so he could claim the screenplays he would be interested in directing.

From there I was left with a bunch of scripts with no where to go but collect ‘dust’ on my hard drive.

After much thought, I decided to polish a few of them and test them on the competition circuit.

Who knows what could happen right?

It’s a better option than having them lie dormant. (Ironically, one of them is called Dormant.)

I selected two scripts and prepared for the rewrite process.

First up is a horror script I wrote about a year ago. It’s a pretty gruesome tale that’s full of twists.

I’ve always loved horror films and the idea behind the story was to practice writing suspense in preparation for a full length horror screenplay I have planned.

I wanted to enter a variety of festivals so I settled on a family drama I wrote last month. It’s a tragic story but I’m becoming well known (in my circle at least) for building uplifting elements into stories like that.

Two ends of the spectrum. Two very different overall styles.

I went over both of them 4 separate times. I find this system helps for polish work.

Story
Language/Structure
Spelling & Grammar
Final Read

Here we go…

Story

The first pass is all about story. Does it make sense? Is it original enough? Is it entertaining? Will people relate to the characters? This is obviously my favorite pass because it allow me the chance to ask myself:

What can I do to make the story better?

Language/Structure

Next I go back to the beginning and focus on my actual writing style. I look for ways to trim action and eliminate redundant sentences. I try to simplify dialogue and make proper use of white space. This step is crucial because pacing and readability can slow a script way down if not treated properly.

Spelling & Grammar

There’s nothing worse than exporting a PDF file and catching a spelling error. This is a boring step but necessary if you want your screenplay to be taken seriously.

Final Read

I like to either print out my script or export a PDF so I can edit as I read. This forces me to read the story uninterrupted and truly see what I’ve got. Obviously I have a pen handy for any glaring mistakes but at this point, I shouldn’t have to use it… Right?

Who am I kidding, there’s always 1 or 2 minor tweaks…

I’ve now taken both of my competition ‘candidates’ through this process. I’m extremely proud of them.

The one important lesson I take from this work is this:

You can rewrite and prepare a script all you want. At some point, you have to let it go, send it off and hope your hard work pays off.

The bonus lesson?

If by chance it doesn’t pay off? Work even harder on the next story.

PS: I’ve always had problems sending people my work. Click here read more…

Tweaking Your Screenplay: Subtle Rewrites

April 16th, 2010 | Posted by jasonmckinnon in Screenwriting | The Climb - (0 Comments)

First, I wrote a short screenplay called The Climb.

Next, I corrected a billion spelling mistakes and called it a day.

Years later when we decided to make the movie, I engaged in a series of rewrites.

After a few months of pre-production, I improved it even further.

This week, we had our first cast read through and rehearsal.

It was time to tweak the script.

The moral of the story? It got better every time!

You really do have to be open to changes and let the script evolve on it’s own. Version 5.1 of The Climb is easily the best and most polished to date.

Here’s why…

Listening and observing actors perform gives you a lot of information you may not have considered when writing the script.

Lines that sound fantastic on the page may not translate well in real life.

This process will bring some much needed changes to light and in the case of The Climb, the changes were welcome.

The beauty of rehearsing with actors lies in the conversations you have throughout. Everyone involved had comments, questions and suggestions dealing with everything from dialogue to motivation.

What’s amazing to me is most of the tweaks made sense. It had me thinking:

“Why didn’t I think of that before?”

To me it doesn’t matter as long as I feel like I’ve done everything I can before the cameras roll.

That and there is no better feeling than implementing a new idea that makes a screenplay better. It’s never too late to eliminate a line that isn’t working or change words here and there.

Tweaks are not to be feared.

They are absolutely vital to creating a shooting draft that you and everyone involved will believe in.

The more I refine the script, the happier I am because it keeps getting better. To a certain extent, it scares me a little bit when I think about the changes I may realize once it’s too late and we’ve wrapped.

To quote athletes everywhere…

“You have to leave it on the court.”

The same rule applies to the ice, the field, the movie set and even the cutting room floor.

What I mean by that, is that I feel confident knowing I worked as hard as possible because there is a point when you have to let go.

For me that won’t happen until I yell cut on the final take.

In short… I like rewrites.

They are a crucial part of the filmmaking process.