I'm attending the Austin Film Festival (placed as a Second Rounder with a feature script), and a screenwriter mentioned at her panel (she's been nominated in the past for an Oscar for Best Script) that 15 drafts is a minimum. I've never done that many, but close, roughly ten. I may push that up now. I think you will find many different answers to this.
Nope. A story is done when an audience is done. I will “dot point”, think, discuss, restart, think. I don’t do many draft anymore. I do a draft and then numerous polishes.
Everything is a first draft until you sign a contract to make it. Then it is multiple production drafts with or without you.
I remember the screenwriter (self-taught) of Antwone Fisher saying he did about 60 drafts before a producer got involved, and my old school mentors typed multiple drafts with a typewriter & carbon copy paper!
I rewrite until I think it is ready to be read by people in the industry. That might take two or three and sometimes a lot more depending on the script.
It depends on the script and complexity of the plot. For a no budget to low budget I would say 3 drafts. If it is a more complex plot 6 drafts. Everyone is different and it depends on you. I think if you write by outline vs writing by the seat of your pants makes a difference in how many drafts you do. There isn’t a right way it just depends on how you tap into your voice. I love outlines but other people hate using them.
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I'm attending the Austin Film Festival (placed as a Second Rounder with a feature script), and a screenwriter mentioned at her panel (she's been nominated in the past for an Oscar for Best Script) that 15 drafts is a minimum. I've never done that many, but close, roughly ten. I may push that up now. I think you will find many different answers to this.
thanks, I kind of suspected that too, that's very interesting, thank you?
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Nope. A story is done when an audience is done. I will “dot point”, think, discuss, restart, think. I don’t do many draft anymore. I do a draft and then numerous polishes.
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No and it's a foolish way to look at the process.
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Everything is a first draft until you sign a contract to make it. Then it is multiple production drafts with or without you.
I remember the screenwriter (self-taught) of Antwone Fisher saying he did about 60 drafts before a producer got involved, and my old school mentors typed multiple drafts with a typewriter & carbon copy paper!
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I rewrite until I feel the script is ready. Sometimes five-ten drafts (or more).
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It’s as many drafts as you need to get it feeling as good as it can be. It can be a handful or dozens.
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I rewrite until I think it is ready to be read by people in the industry. That might take two or three and sometimes a lot more depending on the script.
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I've written scripts with so many drafts I've lost count
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thanks everybody, you've been very helpful
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It depends on the script and complexity of the plot. For a no budget to low budget I would say 3 drafts. If it is a more complex plot 6 drafts. Everyone is different and it depends on you. I think if you write by outline vs writing by the seat of your pants makes a difference in how many drafts you do. There isn’t a right way it just depends on how you tap into your voice. I love outlines but other people hate using them.
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If & when I sell it - that's enough rewrites.
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I think putting a mandatory number of rewrites is a bit ridiculous. Some scripts will need a lot of rewrites, and others... not so much.