How to Rewrite Your Screenplay

7/28/2019 How to Rewrite Your Screenplay

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How to Rewrite Your Screenplay

How to Rewrite Your Screenplayis brought to you by Final Draft Software. www.finaldraft.com

by Ray Morton for Final Draft, Inc.


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Writing is rewriting the old adage goes and all experienced writers know this to betrue. Amateurs look at a first draft as the end of their efforts, while veterans know that itis simply the beginning the creation of the ball of clay that now must be shaped into awork of art. Here are some tips to help you make the most of this crucial part of thecreative process:

Put it away: One of the most important things required to do a good rewrite is perspec-tive you need to be able to see your work clearly for what it is, rather than for whatyou were hoping it would be, and that is almost impossible to do when you are caughtup in the creative process. So, once you have finished your first draft, walk away from itfor a bit a week, a fortnight, a month. This break will allow you to review the piece withfresh, objective eyes.

As you review your draft, ask yourself the following questions:

Is the premise of the piece clear and established early on? The premise is the

seed from which the rest of the narrative grows and must be clearly set up in theopening pages of the script. If you have reached page 15 or 20 and you are stillnot sure what the story is about, then you have some work to do.

Does the narrative flow smoothly and logically? Is the story easy to compre-hend? In other words: can you tell whats going on? If you cant, then its time torevise with an eye toward clarity and comprehensible cause-and-effect.

Does the script tell the story that you intended to tell? During the actual writingprocess, its easy for a writer to get carried away by subplots; go off on tan-gents; become enamored by one segment at the expense of the whole. If that

happens, use the rewrite to get your tale back on track.

Is the theme of the piece clearly expressed by the events of the narrative? Ifyour theme is friendship is forever and your story chronicles the ups anddowns of two buddies from the day they meet in kindergarten to the day theybecome roomies at an old-age home, then youre in good shape. If your themeis friendship is forever and your story is about a werewolf seeking to revengehimself on the Gypsy who bit him, then you have some realigning to do.

Are there any extraneous elements in the script that do not directly support thecentral theme or narrative? If they dont, then they need to be removed.

Is the protagonists primary goal clear and does his pursuit of that goal drive thenarrative? In dramatic storytelling, the protagonist has a strong goal that he/shesets out to achieve. All of the choices the character makes, the actions he takes,and the obstacles he encounters and overcomes should bring him closer to ac-complishing that goal. If your character isnt constantly working toward some-thing or is behaving in a willy-nilly manner, then its time to rethink.


by Ray Morton for Final Draft, Inc.


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Is the protagonists arc logically brought about by the events of the story? If yourstory is about a liar who learns to tell the truth, then the events of the storyshould show how lying initially benefits the protagonist, eventually causes himbig trouble, and how he eventually comes to see the error of his ways. If, how-ever, the narrative has him showing courage in the face of overwhelming odds

but the lesson he learns is not to lie, then a visit to the narrative chiropractor is inorder.

Is your antagonist too dominant? Especially when writing action films or horrormovies, it is easy to give too much attention to a colorful bad guy. Its okay to dothis in a first draft, but it is crucial that you rein in these rogue baddies in subse-quent editions lest they steal the film from your hero.

Have I failed to dramatize all of my story elements? Beginning writers are notori-ous for inserting important story points (a characters thoughts and feelings, vitalbackstory, info vital to the understanding of a scene or setting) into a scripts de-

scriptive passages, but failing to properly dramatize those elements in ways(through action, images, and/or dialogue) that will communicate that informationto the audience.

Does my story fulfill its genre expectations? In other words, if its a comedy, is itfunny? If its a horror film, is it scary? And so on.

Once you have addressed matters of substance, you then need to address matters ofform, so keep an eye out for the following:

Big blocks of type: the presence of large blocks of description usually indicates

that you have gotten bogged down writing way too much minute detail. Re-member, scripts are not novels you dont have to describe every little aspect ofevery little thing. The descriptive passages in screenplays should be brisk andevocative, using as few words as possible to effectively describe an action, acharacter, or a place before moving on as fast as possible to the next bit.

Endless pages of dialogue: this usually means that you are telling your storythrough dialogue, as is done on the stage, rather through the combination of im-ages, action, and dialogue that is the hallmark of effective cinematic storytelling.

An overabundance of shots, camera movements, sets, costumes, or music and

editing cues: As a screenwriter, your job is to structure and tell a story, not to di-rect the film, design the sets and costumes, or cut and score the picture. Stick towhat youre supposed to do and let the directors, designers, and cutters dowhat theyre supposed to do.

An overabundance of storytelling gimmicks: If your script is filled with flash-backs, narration, and dream sequences, it probably means that the central nar-


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rative isnt strong enough to stand on its own, in which case, you need to beef itup.

Scenes or sequences that go on and on: in movies, pacing is paramount. Ide-ally, you should begin all of your scenes as close to the dramatic heart of the

scene as possible and you should end them as soon as its dramatic point hasbeen made. Any excess should be trimmed away.

A high page count: a script should never be longer than 120 pages. Ever.

Get Feedback. Once you have completed a draft to your satisfaction, give it to peopleto read and comment on. Choose folks who can read and analyze your piece with anobjective eye and who will give you honest and constructive criticism. For this reason, Irecommend that you seek out fellow writers and industry colleagues rather than friendsand family members folks who probably dont have a solid grasp of the three-actstructure, character arcs, or visual expository techniques and wont tell you if there are

things they dont like in your work because they dont want to hurt your feelings. An-other good option is to submit your piece to a professional script analyst or coverageservice to get an industry-level assessment of your piece. Once your analysts have re-sponded, analyze their analysis. If one person has a problem with some aspect of yourscript, then it could just be that persons individual issue. However, if a number of peo-ple have the same problem, then its likely that the fault lies with the script and will needto be addressed.

Proofread. Its important to make a good and professional first impression so beforesubmitting your work to the marketplace, go over it with a fine tooth comb and correctall mistakes in spelling, grammar, punctuation, screenplay formatting, and screenplay

terminology. Dont be afraid to use professional proofreading and formatting services ifyou need to.


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How to Use Final Draftto Rewrite Your Screenplay

SCRIPT NOTES

After youve written your first draft, and gained that recommended perspective, its time to

go back through it and start making improvements. One great tool is ScriptNotes.

With ScriptNotes, you can write notes on any scene element such as an action line or

dialogue. Or you can write a note that covers your entire scene. Just place your cursor

where you want the note to appear and click the ScriptNotes button in your tool bar. You

can also drop down from the Documents menu or use a keyboard shortcut.

In this example above, weve made a note to change the name of a bar in a line of

dialogue. To save your notes, just click the red button in the left corner of your note. A

symbol appears in your script showing you where the note is saved. Click the symbol to

re-open the note. To delete a note, just click the same symbol and press the Delete key.


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If you go to Documents > ScriptNotes, you can change the

symbols and colors of each note. This is helpful to organize

your notes. You can also create different categories of notes by

level of importance, scene element, or even categorize different

ScriptNotes per character.

Please Note that ScriptNotes are not printed as part of your

script. They are only visible within your Final Draftfile.

If you want to print out your ScriptNotes, you can do so from our Reports menu. Go to

Tools > Reports and choose ScriptNote report. You can choose to print out all ScriptNotes

or just print certain categories.

Below is an example of a fictional ScriptNote report for the screenplay Casablanca.

If you send any other Final Draftuser your file, they can add their own notes using

ScriptNotes and return the file to you. This is extremely helpful if you need to get feedback

from a producer, agent, or a co-writer.


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PANELS VIEW

The Panels View makes it very easy to start rewriting your script. You can view your first

draft on the left, while rewriting your new draft on the right.

To activate the Panels View, just view your script normally. Then click the

icon in your toolbar. You can also go View > Split Vertically in the top menu. When you

activate the Panels View, you see your script in two panels. An example is below.

Notice the script in the left panel has a light blue border. That means that side is active.

When you write in the active side, you update the entire script. You can toggle the active

side between right and left by just clicking on either script.

Please note that when you make a change in either panel, you are updating the entire

script. Therefore, we recommend that you save each new revision of your script with a

new filename such as Script_A, Script_B, Script_C, etc. This ensures you dont

accidentally overwrite any existing scripts.

You can also mark all changes and revisions to your script with different text colors and

highlights such as underlining or striking through changes. You can do so in Revision


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Mode which is fully explained in the Final Draft Users Guide. Click Help in the top menu in

Final Draftto access the Users Guide.

About Ray Morton

RAY MORTON is a writer and script consultant. His new bookMusic on Film: Amadeus is nowavailable online and in bookstores. Morton analyzes screenplays for production companies,

producers, and individual writers. He is available for private consultation and can be reached at

[email protected].

About Final Draft Software

Final Draftsoftware is the #1-selling scriptwriting software program inthe world. Final Draftis used by Oscar-winning screenwriters, Tony-winning playwrights, and many of the best writers for TV and newmedia. It is easy to learn and easy to use, yet powerful enough forthe biggest film, stage play, and TV productions. Download your copyat www.finaldraft.com.


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How to Rewrite Your Screenplay

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