John August

Writing Process

Rewriting based on other people’s notes

QandA, Writing Process

questionmark I am about to begin work on a new draft of a script of mine that is currently under option with an Irish Film Production Company. I have been seriously writing for two years (since finishing up my Film & TV studies at college) and haven’t to this day had to rewrite one of my scripts based on outside suggestions.

I was just wondering, what tips you would have on re-writing? Are there any tips? Is there even a standard way of re-writing at all? How should I attack this new challenge?

— Kevin Lehane
Cork City, Ireland

The bulk of screenwriting is really screenrewriting. Whether it’s your second draft, or your seventeeth, you’re constantly trying to make the script better/faster/cheaper/funnier while not forgetting what made you write it in the first place. Here are some things to keep in mind:

1. Be bold. You always have the old version saved on the hard drive, so why not try that radical idea? The worst that can happen is that it doesn’t work. Even if it’s a disaster, you may discover some great things you can use in the less-radical version.

2. Have a plan. If you know what you’re trying to accomplish, you’re less likely to hit dead ends.

3. Don’t confuse rewriting with polishing. Rewriting means ripping apart scenes and sequences and rebuilding them piece-by-piece. Polishing is finding ways to make the writing subtly better: changing words, moving commas, and breaking up sentences. Both jobs are crucial, but don’t polish until the scene accomplishes its function.

4. When considering other people’s notes, focus on why they had an issue, not how they proposed solving it. If it’s not clear why a beat didn’t work for them, keep asking questions.

5. Always be willing to kill your favorite moments. To paraphrase Spock: The needs of the movie outweigh the needs of the scene.

Does your own writing make you laugh?

QandA, Writing Process

This may sound like an odd question but…does your own comedy writing make you laugh?  Should it? I’m talking strictly in the rewriting phase, say, five months into a script, should you still laugh consistently as you read through your own work?

–Gary

No, usually my writing doesn’t make me laugh, at least after the initial how-clever-am-I chuckle. Any joke becomes unfunny after you stare at it for too long. The trick is to remember why it was once funny, and protect those aspects.

While rewriting generally sharpens comedy, it’s all too easy to lose subtle jokes in the process.

David Dean Bottrell on How I Write

First Person, Writing Process

A few months ago, I asked several screenwriters to write a bit about their process for the [First Person](http://johnaugust.com/archives/category/first-person) section. The first one to email me back with an answer was David Dean Bottrell. While I waited for the others answers to come in, I promptly misfiled his response.

This week, David emailed me to ask what the hell happened, and I could only cite my own idiocy. Fortunately, he’s a kind person who will forgive me for it.
***
first personWhen I have an idea I really like, I launch into a fairly detailed treatment of it. This is where I find out if my seemingly ingenious idea will really translate into a viable (and fun) story. I do this because once I start writing the actual screenplay, my focus will naturally shift to the characters and dialogue and I can easily lose track of the big picture. Writing a treatment gives me a clear perspective on the overall story that I’ll never have again. And since (as we all know) story makes or breaks a screenplay, attention paid to it now will save me a ton of time and grief later.

Once I start the screenplay, the task is to make sure my story is fully and truthfully lived out by the characters — and if they seem to want to do things a little differently than I had planned, I let them do it. I never try to write well on a first draft. I just hammer it out. I never edit while I’m writing (that comes after I’ve finished a draft). After about three passes on a script, I’ll show it to someone I trust. Usually they confirm my worst suspicions and then the repair work begins.

From this point on, other people are going to be involved and my job becomes about shaping and reshaping the script based on the feedback I’m getting. The greatest lesson I’ve learned from this part of the process is that (contrary to MY former beliefs) other people sometimes have terrific ideas that can significantly improve my script. Not always, but sometimes. Sometimes I agree to a change that I don’t initially like only to find that within a couple of days I love it and can’t wait to take full credit for the idea! In my experience, screenwriting (kinda like life!) is about choosing a path, then accepting the inevitability of change and learning to deal with it creatively.

I have yet to have a normal day at work. I write daily though I don’t keep specific office hours. I’m not one of those guys who can write in coffee shops – mostly because I live in L.A. and inevitably someone always comes up and asks what I’m writing and then wants to tell me about what he’s writing and then I somehow wind up agreeing to read his script.

Sometimes, my work day is dictated by deadlines so there are occasional late nights. Generally speaking, I protect my writing time by turning off phones and disconnecting from the internet – which can be a very tough thing to do since writing is at times a lonely process. I’ve found that not much good work happens if I am in a bad or cynical mood so I have lots of goofy (AKA “borderline idiotic”) tricks I play on myself in order to stay happy and interested in the work — And if you think I’m going to tell you what they are, you’re sorely mistaken, bub. Mostly, I try to respect and take pride in being a writer which helps me sit there and do it when I’d much rather go out and get drunk.
***
David Dean Bottrell co-wrote the screenplay for the Fox Searchlight feature, [Kingdom Come](http://imdb.com/title/tt0246002/). He has sold both spec scripts and pitches, rewritten scripts by other writers, adapted novels and written for feature animation.

Working on multiple projects

QandA, Tarzan, Writing Process

Do you prefer to work on one project at a time, from start to finish? Or do you prefer to keep a couple things going at once, maybe writing a couple pages on each a day?

–Jason Rinka
North Hollywood, CA

When the situation allows — that is, when I’m not horribly behind on a project I owe somebody — I prefer to work on one thing at a time. Unfortunately, I’m usually behind. As of this moment (March 2004), I’m on my third draft of CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, my second draft of CORPSE BRIDE, and finishing my first draft of TARZAN. Generally, they get prioritized based on how soon the movie shoots, so CHARLIE gets the bulk of my energy, even though TARZAN is horribly overdue.

I would never try to write two first drafts at the same time — there’s too much planning involved. But a lot of rewriting can effectively be done in quick bursts, so working on multiple projects in one day isn’t as onerous as it seems. Once you’ve written the screenplay, it’s pretty easy to get back in the right mindset when a director calls with a quick change.

Television writers in particular have to be ready to work on any script at any time, since any given moment they have an episode in outline, an episode in prep, an episode shooting, and an episode in post. Of course, television also benefits from having characters and storylines that continue — you’re not reinventing every 60 pages.