I am exhausted but delighted to have finished the latest Feature Screenplay I have been writing. However the script is the second time I have told this story! Okay I will back up here and explain. I was hired to write a screenplay in a genre I love dearly and jumped at the chance. I met with the Producer and pitched him my idea and he loved it so we signed up all the particulars and away I go. I typed day and night come hell and high water watching the characters come to life and the story form. The script complete I handed it over and job done, well not really. I met up with the Producer (Great guy) and went over the whole screenplay but then it hit me, the script didn't need a re-write it needed starting again from the start. I told the Producer I wasnt happy as the story did not deliver enough on the concept and the character I was not happy with either. So he was shocked when I told him I wanted to start all over and write a totally new script.... Then I thought to myself "am I crazy?" and the answer is alway the same probably! Now I have finished the new script I know the story is more true to my original idea. Now that was worth the extra work. I guess I can just sit back and wait for the re-write notes. So have any of you guys took this option under your own steam to scrap a full piece of work and start a fresh?
Screenwriting : Rip it up and start again! by Neville Steenson
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I know a number of playwrights have done this, usually on the basis that the first draft just tells them what the story and characters are really about as opposed to what they thought it would be.
If you rip a script. Chances are you have not structured the characters and story.
Or maybe I just wasn't happy with the route the story took and would rather start a fresh then to settle for something I was not fully happy with. Just maybe.
Then most likely you may have written yourself into a corner. Just like the phrase painted yourself into a corner. This happens because the route was not planned out. Perhaps, you did not take the time to formulate the path that it was going. There is a lot of argument between being formulaic and writing freely. Formula is not a bad thing. Because most people don't understand the concept of the phrase "the map is not the territory." The formula is not the story, it's just a spine. And the spine does not have to be stringent. But we need to have a direction, a logical finish line. Most of the time we create a skeleton, then flesh it out. But I'll say it one more time, and a person really has understand this phrase to get it. "The map is not the territory." The direction is not the story. But we often need a direction. What may happen is a writer may write himself into a corner. Writing is like one big game of connect the dots. However, it is like creating a connect the dots game for somebody else. So there must be plotted path. Food for thought.
I agree Mario and as Stephen King stated its like finding a relic and removing it from the earth bit by bit then you reasemble the way you think it should be. It just didn't rest easy and after 14 years of writing Features and Shorts I just wasn't feeling it. I would certainly say I write freely with a main outlined structure. Thank you for that Mario always good to get an insight from a fellow writer. Food for thought indeed.
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That explains things a bit more. You wrote something and did not emotionally connected to it. Didn't jive with you on the inside. You felt that right away. You know of your worth. What you created was something that didn't have a lot of good feelings and it. What I'm trying to say is you didn't connect to the story and feel it was at the value that equals your worth. That was your gut feeling talking. A few good Hollywood people that I've talked with often say listen to your gut. Listening to your gut could be the difference between a person getting swindled versus a person getting a good project. That brings us to another topic. Integrity versus money. Integrity was the biggest lesson I ever learned. Doing what's right, rather than doing what's convenient. I turn down a $10,000 deal. Why? I refuse to be mistreated. I can still have clients that treat me well. I would rather be choosy about who I work with. Sometimes listen to your gut is a good thing.
Well said Mario I think the more we do the more integrity becomes paramount. After all as you say your gut is there to be trusted. Money comes and it goes but your reputation is hard earned and if its not right you should never put out what you are not willing to fight for tooth and nail. However on the upside I love the new Screenplay and really felt it benifitted from the more scenic route I had to take to find the true story. Live and learn Mate! lol
Thank you Alle for that as its nice to get many perspectives. Great to hear also I didn't knee jerk the situation as I could have moved words around but it would not have helped. Great! Same back at ya Alle, keep writing, keep creating and keep awesome ;-)
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Firstly, congrats on the assignment, Neville. Great to read you gave have hooked up with a producer you really get on with. Sorry to be a pedant but in all fairness, by starting a new draft you aren't scrapping anything or starting a fresh because you've learned a great deal from the previous one, which is no bad thing. I've done it myself, sometimes after a large amount of learning and sometimes simply as a result of investigation and elimination. Kudos to you for having the guts and long term insight to do it, shows your dedication and enthusiasm to get it right.