Screenwriting : Reading it after you're done by Eisha Marjara

I think we all have. Sleeping reboots your brain but not always like the day before. In love business anything big sleep on it. I'm a film-maker most important thing is the overall idea. I can get someone to fix the words but the idea is the monry maker.

Happens to me all the time. I've noticed it having to do with my blood sugar, too. If I haven't eaten, everything I write is crap. Then there's the issue of getting feedback and not being able to shake off the psychic toxicity and restore the original belief of the script. And sometimes I read the PDF instead of inside my script software. Often find changes I want to make with the different view.

its the same with composing, thats why I follow the never send out after dark rule as the ears and brains plays tricks. I have read that the brain recognises mistakes and adjusts them... The next day you get a rude shock and often its straight back to the mixing desk.

Reading Scripts to me is like reading obituaries, they are just hard to read and often boring. Scripts are brought to life by the producers/directors. A novelist, like me, has to paint a picture and get into the characters minds, where-as in visual media that is the job of the producers/directors. If the script is adopted from a novel (like my novels), I really think the actor is a fool not to read the novel. It is very difficult to see inside a character from a script. I admire people that write scripts because 98% of them are never made into movies even though the script writer will push it until the day they die! (Egos off the charts!). I prefer to write Novels and if they get read good if not, then I walk my golden retriever or go play golf!

Actually you are wrong. It is the screenwriters job to bring a script to life. Otherwise how would a screenwriter adapt a novel into a screenplay? It is not difficult to see inside of a character in a screenplay as long as the character is written well and the writer knows how to use sub-text. Writing novels is easy, adapting them into a screenplay is a bitch!

Some advice on reading your own work. Don't read it while you are at the computer. You need to print it out and hold it in your hand. Somehow this makes it something new. Don't read your script to yourself because your mind is not concentrating on the story, but all the mistakes and you are too busy thinking about what you like and don't like. Read the script out loud with someone else. Or better yet, if you have a friend who is an actor, have them read it and act out the actions with you in the room. This helps clean up dialogue and see where you need to put in more or less actions. Hope this helps.

Agree with Kristen here. I've written in novel, non-fiction, short story and screenplays. Screenplays are the most difficult. Strict rules, incredible attention to timing and plot turns... far more stressing to the brain. And as for the viability of non-screenplay writing, I have experienced more rejection in the traditional writing world than the script world. That said, screenplays are a far more interesting read to me these days... unless the novelist is John Fowles or Herman Wouk. It's a completely different mindset, obviously. I know you want to get a screenwriter for your novel, but given than 98% of scripts never get done, why would a screenwriter spec on a novel and dedicate at least six weeks of non-refundable time to the idea of another person and take the risk that it will never get picked up? Also, might be nice to honor the screenwriter, especially while trying to get one to adapt your book. Just saying... Oh, and bring your checkbook to the conversation. If it's a great novel, it's worth the economic risk.

I agree with Phillip and Kristen. I have read a lot of screenplays that are so well-written that I become lost in them. Just like in a good novel, if the characters and story affect me on an emotional level, I know in my guts it's a winner. If it doesn't grab you, it sure as hell won't grab an audience. As far as reading my own work, I usually wait until I've finished a complete act. Usually, then I can tell if it stinks or not. LOL.

Eisha. Don't try and read your script until you think you're ready to send it to market. It's a big mistake to think your first draft is anywhere near ready. Pat yourself on the back and the deconstruct your story scene by scene. There is a method I've developed for draft two rewrites that's helped me tremendously. I use it now for everything because frankly I had that very problem. I've also found it really depends on my mood. Sometimes it reads great and then later that same scene doesn't sit right. Remember. Every singe scene you've written can be better! Never give up on your talents.

I love these comments! It is interesting to see how easily the egos get bruised with brutal honesty! An Editor is essential for almost all published works. Lastly Philip, Please don't ever say to me or anyone you don't know that,"You know", when you don't. My novel, "Blood and Butterflies" is already in Screen Play form and being edited now. I had 5 screen writers vying for it because it has all 5 star ratings on Amazon. My latest book, "Sitting on a Log" is my memoirs and some other good stuff:, you would enjoy reading it! Keep writing those Scripts!

Stunning, John, that with all the Snow White movies being made, none of your mirrors work. I am amazed that you know what I would enjoy reading and I'll thank you to refrain from telling me what to write, which is not the same as saying. And now back to the topic of re-reading... reading out loud, whether with others or by one's lonesome is a great technique which I encountered years ago when writing for the Internet on insane deadlines. Worked like a champ.

Thank you all for your feedback and advice. When re-reading a writer has to take on the more left brain role of the editor which means having to re-orient the mind using whatever method works for the individual - whether it is to read aloud, read a hard copy and in a different location than one writes, get some sugar (!) and sleep so the mind is clear headed and ready for an impersonal response to ones work. I think we tend to forget that we are not robots but human beings that require - not unlike an athlete - the right balance of nourishment, rest, affection, exercise, solitude, company, cultural/ artistic activities, encouragement, meditation, fun, perhaps time with ones pet and the ability to not take oneself and ones work too seriously. I often solve problems in my story when I am running - like I did today - and least expected it!

Elisha, Exercise does wonders for the writing process, doesn't it? My great ideas usually come while I'm driving, then I'm like, "Crap! Where's my freaking pen??" LOL.

lol @ Sandra!! Or in the bath!

Glad everyone seems to go through the same hardships I have also encounted. Its good to know.

It's been happening to me for over 8 years with the same stage play.... Every time I read my play I find it terrible and at the same time I foresee it on stage and it's wonderful. One fact is for sure about this play I co-wrote with Bob Dylan's lyrics... Dylan's lyrics live in the characters lines, but the plot and characters I created... well I'm not sure. If you all would like to read my play, it's in my profile in the "Longlines and Screanplays". I'd be happy to read yours too. cheers

Note what you think is bad when you are in that negative mindset. It might be something worth revisiting or editing that may be just slightly off and you miss it when you are feeling self satisfied. If you aren't being hypercritical then it is worth a second pass. Sometimes we just get bored or fed up with what we are working on though, no matter if it's good or not. Being creatives we would much rather create the next new idea we are formulating than retool old material and hold contempt for it.

@Robert yeah it helps to normalize this as it happens to everyone. It doesn't take away the fact that it's still irritating! The mind is one wickedly fickle organism! @David I agree with you. Time away allows one to dis-identify with the material and become detached from it emotionally. Objectivity is contingent upon that. @Rob good insight! I like what you said about how we can really put the negative mindset to good (positive?) use in order to improve upon the script, rather than just dismiss what can use brushing up. Good point. @Anderson I have had a similar experience with one project in particular. It is a peculiar creature this one project. But "plot" isn't always god, in the art world anyway. Art - screenplays included - represent the realm of dreams, mystery and the ambiguities of human experience. Screenplays need not be tied up into a neat bow. Poetic charm and enigma is - if not necessary - an imprint of the writer's originality and imagination.

So true Ei..

I agree with Sandra. I always have great ideas when I drive, or in the shower and I have not figured out a good place to keep the pen and paper (G rated please). Eisha, sometimes the best thing to do is to NOT read your screenplay for a week or so, give it a rest. Come back to it and you'll be more refreshed and ready to do whatever it you want to do, re-write a scene, delete a character, whatever... Good luck! Lou

Yep...

It's like any art. When you're too close to it, a step back and fresh eye are always a good thing.

Thanks @Eisha, I totally agree with you. It's time for me to believe once more and face it. I will read my creation again and see where it takes it. Cheers

I always like my first draft and love my second. Usually the third is a combination of both and the fourth is something I rarely do. I have only written and directed one feature to base this next comment on...but...the final draft is never final until I'm pleased with what the actor did. How they added or heightened the words. I work closely with my own scripts and actors. But yes...always have a week off after you have printed that first draft. Let the printer ink dry for a few days before you go back over your creation.

I've been working on one particular screenplay for 2 years. Most of that time it's sat on an external hard drive in a drawer. I figure if I still get excited about it when I read it a few months later, it's probably worth continuing. Putting a screenplay or a novel away for a while helps me be more objective. I do have others, and many outlines that I look at and think "what the &*($ was I thinking? But I never throw them away... I've always found writing very easy, it's the marketing part that's my biggest challenge!

Karen, I have to work on the marketing part as well. When I get ideas for a script, I write it down and just come back to it later. Right now, I'm researching a script that I want to write later this year. I also have two more acts for finish on another. I'm tempted to work on the unfinished one, but if I do that, I'll lose my focus. Have you thought about taking another angle on your script? Maybe a fresh take might get you excited again. It worked for me with one of my scripts (I went through four different versions of the same story).

Hi Sandra, It's completely finished now. While it's ripening on my external hard drive, I try to totally forget about it and brainstorm ideas for others scripts. But I can never work on two at the same time like some people! If my Final Draft is occupied with one then that's all I can handle. I just research and do the card shuffle with the other ideas to see if they'll work.

I try to write as much as I can and not read over it as I go unless it's to check that details match from earlier scenes. I find if I go over and over a script, I zone out on it. The only way to explain it is it's like having a bottle of perfume under your nose for hours. After a while you don't smell the scent, even though it's still there. I put it away for a while and come back to it days or weeks later (unless I'm working on a deadline! Then I have to really try to stay focused as I re-read it but I usually do that after I'm done!)

You don't know how good your script willl every ... sound ... until it's casted. Your cast is the final author and eternal for your audience. Now a good or great script has a little somewhat of how it ... reads ... or sounds to you on any given day.