Ah, the sensation of liberation that comes from not holding back AT ALL when you really throw yourself into a rewrite.

That’s kind of how it’s been working out for the latest draft of my western.

What was originally anticipated as a nerve-wracking ordeal involving constantly second-guessing my choices has actually become quite a fun, thrilling, and surprisingly eduational experience.

Part of the initial objective was to flesh out the characters some more while keeping the story intact. The former seemed to pose the biggest challenge. Tough, but not impossible.

I figured the best approach was to take it scene by scene, starting with page one and the mindset of “what can change about these characters?”

I couldn’t say if it was having not looked at the script for several months, or just going into this with a “just have at it” attitude, but there was definitely something different about this time. Both for me and the story.

The words came, and I really like how it’s coming along so far. There are the expected slight modifications to the story, but nothing too drastic, and overall it feels a little more developed.

In the meantime, the “one scene at a time” approach seems to be working out just fine. I thought the script was pretty decent before, but now think there might actually be a chance the end result could be even better.