Should I fudge the date on the cover?
I have a question with regard to whether or not you should date scripts when sending them out.
Would it put someone off from looking at a script if they saw a date on the cover page that was one or two years old, (or more!) and therefore subconsciously make them think the idea is no longer “current”?
– Danni
Los Angeles
Yes, put the date on the cover. And as much as possible, try to keep it accurate and consistent. That way, when you’re talking with someone about your script, you can be assured you’re both talking about the same draft. More than once, I’ve sat down at a meeting and glanced at their script, only to realize they were looking at an old version.
That said, if you’re giving the script to someone new and important, and it’s been six months since your last revision, change the date. I don’t know about most readers, but I always tend to notice the year on the cover. Given the choice between a 2003 script and a 2005, I’ll always choose the more recent vintage. It’s a psychological thing.
And while we’re on the topic, there’s no need to put “First Draft” or “Second Revision” on the title page. The date is plenty.
Inevitably, a few days after a major revision, I’ll notice a bunch of typos. If it’s really just simple misspellings, fix them and keep the old date. If making the corrections changes page breaks and whatnot, use the new date.
Articles
September 17th, 2005 at 9:08 am
Yeah, I agree, it depends on the situation. For the purposes of this blog and its readership, I think most of the situations will be un-repped people showing their scripts to agents/managers/d-people for the first time.
In that case, leave the script undated, because it’s always a little discouraging to read something dated years ago. As a reader, you think, “All right, well if this person has been making the effort with this script for X number of years, and nothing’s happened with it, it couldn’t be very good.”
If you leave it undated, the person reading it might ask what its history is, in which case you’re obliged to tell him, but if he doesn’t ask, there’s no reason to volunteer that it’s a five year old script.
But keep in mind that if you make the effort with a script and get it to a dozen or more people, and you’re still not getting anywhere with it, take a hint and stop showing it around. Re-tool it, or just put it in your trunk and take it back out later on after you get a leg up in the biz.
Doesn’t matter that this script wasn’t anyone’s cup of tea because you have other scripts, and myriad ideas, each one better than the next, so no one piece of material is ever going to sink you.
Ben
September 18th, 2005 at 1:04 am
Good post, as I began to read it I remembered once wondering about things.. that were magically answered in paragraphs 3 and 4