Screenwriting : Rewrite: Dreaded or Not? by David Levy

I like the rewrite/polishing process much better than the first draft. The first draft I'm trying to remember everything (not just the story, but the pacing, milking the conflict etc.) After that, most stuff is down on paper and I can concentrate on improving the script.

Writing is an iterative process. You have learn to let go of whatever needs to be changed for the good of the script.

I love rewrites more than the first draft... it's like the first time I rode a bike without the training wheels, it's empowering.

I dread the rewrite when I'm not sure how I'm going to crack the story in the next draft. Coverage on the previous draft helps a lot.

Good thought from Pb, I've done that with a few projects. Shelved them for a while, then got them out at later dates for a final rinse. It's easy to over think current scripts, and I occasionally feel the characters have become "glued" . A fresh perspective aids the confidence to cut out previously unnoticed dead wood, and a maverick way forward for the plot, aswell as helping to refine characters.

I see editing as a necessary evil, like a surgery where bad or weakened tissue is replaced with healthy, stronger transplants. I'm doing the same thing with one of my screenplays right now. It has gone through several transformations. So much so that it bears little resemblance to the first draft. The original concept lives on but some characters and scenes have died on the editing block while new fresh ones have sprung up. Even the original hero is now a minor player, replaced by the very villain that was trying to kill him in the last three iterations.

Your right Anthony, sometimes the characters end up telling the writer what to do!

Sometimes a draft feels like a piece of carbon paper used 30 times over. There are some characters that jump off the page so much the story writes itself. It may not happen in the first few drafts but once their voices get louder, at times I do not want to stop writing what they're telling me or showing me.

Usually I hate it, sometimes not. It depends. If I feel like I'm making progress, it's great, because I can see it getting better each pass and feeling like it's become something greater. On the other hand, sometimes it's like building a lego castle, only to find out you were supposed to be building a pirate ship: it all needs to be torn down and start over again. That can be very frustrating.

It depends on how often I rewrite, just as you mentioned, David. Sometimes you just rewrote it and then someone else critics this draft so you have to go over it again. That is what I hate. When I put it away for a while and then read it again, it is fun again to make corrections. I try to avoid rewriting too often, because this can lead to new knots in the story. There is a time when you have to be confident and give the story a chance in competitions or pitches. If it fails you still have the chance to rewrite it again then.

The first draft is a brain dump, just thinking. Re-writing is the essence of writing.

Great expression Jim. Lol.

Jim said it. Writing is rewriting, dude. And this means not being afraid to take apart your script. Think of it like a rubix cube. You have 4 out of six sides the same color, but you can't complete the rest of the cube without reworking those four sides.

Once I've figured out what each of my character's points of view are on the world, that helps give them their voice, THEN I enjoy the rewrite process because their actions will be true and drive the story in the right direction. Sometimes it takes a draft or two to get those voices right, though. Best of luck!

What Jim said. I call my first drafts "word vomit!". Get in all on the page then start to shape it.

I love the rewrite process. It's like watching the flowers come up after you've done all the work of preparing the beds and planting. The rewrite process is where you get to fine-tune the engine that goes "putt putt putt" into the engine that goes "ROAR! I"M GOING TO EAT THE WORLD!"

The rewrite process is brand new to me. I don't know how I feel about it yet. However, I find myself re-writing and editing my script often. When I have this one ready, and submit it to the screenplay contests - I guess I'll find out it my constant editing and rewriting was detrimental to my creative process, or beneficial.

I still have some dread I'm still working on a script that I've been working on since 2009.

I dread the rewrite, but it still feels a little good too because it means I've finished the story and it's reached the page count minimum. Rewriting means concentrating even harder.

For me there's a vast chasm between knowing something's wrong with something that will probably never get made and knowing how to fix something that's going to get made. The former is daunting and feels like going in circles and the latter is motivating and feels like progress. There are simply many shades to rewriting. The most dangerous trap to fall into is writing feature specs, soliciting subjective opinions, letting self doubt creep in, and then hopelessly rewriting to satisfy peers. That will generate nothing but anxiety in the long term - no matter who much you religious recite the various axioms.

NOT...