editing

Full speed ahead!

Maximum Z adventure, animation, comedy, contest, determination, editing, entertainment, fantasy, perseverance, persistence, rewriting, science fiction, screenplay, screenwriting, script, story, writing, writing process , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Apart from a few tweaks on the animated fantasy-comedy, the past few weeks have been all about cranking out the new draft of the sci-fi adventure.

And “cranking out” seems to be the appropriate term.

My usual process is to write a few pages, go back and do some work on them, then move on to the next set.

Not this time.

I write ’em and move on. No looking back.

No editing. No tweaking. Nothing.

There is absolutely no doubt there’ll be a ton of editing and rewriting when it’s done, but for now it’s “just get the damned thing written”.

Current output is about 2-3 pages a day, so if I can maintain that pace, there’s no reason to believe it couldn’t be wrapped up by the end of June or thereabouts.

Also nice – I’m having a great time telling this story, and I hope that enjoyment comes across to future readers.

I don’t know if I’ll continue to use this method for future scripts, or even for future drafts, but for now it seems to be working. It’s definitely different and takes some getting used to, but I don’t mind.

-last-minute addition! as of this writing, the aforementioned fantasy-comedy was announced as a quarterfinalist in the animation category for StoryPros. Not too shabby, especially since it’s been rewritten/polished a few times since then to what I believe is a more put-together version.

While it would be great for it to continue moving forward, I’m quite happy with this.

-The writers strike continues, with no end in sight. Here’s hoping that that changes soon. #WGAStrong

It’s all about the gradual improvement

Maximum Z animation, comedy, contests, coverage, craft, determination, editing, encouragement, fantasy, feedback, notes, perseverance, persistence, rewriting, Richard Walter, screenplay, screenwriting, script, writing , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Progress has been slow, steady, and in all honesty, somewhat faster than expected regarding the ongoing development of the animated fantasy-comedy spec.

Having learned my lesson from getting too many sets of notes per draft in the past, this time I limited myself to 2-3 writers per draft. All of the notes, as expected, were extremely helpful.

Not at the FINAL final draft yet, but gosh is it a lot closer than it was a few months ago. Pages have been cut, characters and subplots tossed, scenes revised or combined, lots of lines and pages trimmed down to what is hopefully succinct and to-the-point writing.

Currently clocking in at a respectable 102 pages. Nice. Especially considering an earlier draft was 119(!). Better to overwrite and cut than to pad and add.

(Big shoutout to Richard Walter for his invaluable advice of “Write as if ink costs $1000 an ounce.”)

While I did achieve one goal of having a workable rewrite done by the end of 2022 – at 10pm on New Year’s Eve, I was hoping to have it contest-ready soon after that.

Not the case, but that’s okay.

I’ve since received a few more sets of notes, including some helpful and encouraging comments from somebody who does coverage for the studios. Two more rounds of polishing have been completed since then. No major or drastic changes; more like a lot of effective and beneficial editing.

At this point, I’d guess there’s probably one more polish, possibly two, to go before I start warming up the credit card and check out contest deadlines.

Well worth the wait, I’d say.

Despite the still-growing number of drafts, it’s been quite satisfying to see the script slowly come together, and the next (but not the last) finish line is in sight.

From the archives: Guilty as charged

Maximum Z animation, comedy, contest, draft, editing, fantasy, pulp fiction, rewriting, scenes, science fiction, screenplay, screenwriting, script, sequence, writing , , , , , , , , , , ,

lardner mugshot
I did it. I’m glad I did it. And I’ll do it again. As many times as necessary.*

Got some excellent notes and pro feedback on the latest draft of the animated fantasy-comedy. Some of the suggestions involved totally cutting out some scenes I loved. It was heartbreaking to do it, but it was about what was best for the script, not the writer, so away they went.

Which leads to this classic post from yesteryear – Sept 2017, to be exact. Time has passed, but the sentiment and mindset remain the same. Enjoy.

The clock’s ticking down to the final deadline for an upcoming contest, so almost all of my energies are being directed at getting the pulp sci-fi in as tip-top shape as possible. Overall, I’d say it’s coming along nicely.

As you’d expect, there have already been some big changes made, with more than a few more on the way.

A major part of some of these changes has involved cutting material that I previously considered untouchable, or at least to do so would have constituted a crime against all that is good and wholesome.

Otherwise known as “killing one’s darlings”.

As you edit/polish/rewrite your scripts, changes will (and should) occur within the context of the story, so you have to deal with the consequences and ramifications of making those changes. And that means gettin’ rid of the stuff you love.

Did I really, really like this line of dialogue or that scene? Most definitely.

Did I cut it without a moment’s hesitation because it just didn’t work anymore? Yep.

Any regrets? Not really. Why should I? It’s all about making the script better, right?

A lot of writers won’t cut something because they hold it too close. To them, their ego takes precedence over the material. If a producer or director says something doesn’t work, and says it’ll have to be cut, what are they going to do? Say no?

It’s very rare that the final draft of a screenplay is exactly like the first draft. Changes will always be necessary, whether you want to make them or not. Much as you might hate it at the moment, make those changes. Chances are you’ll barely remember what was there before anyway.

A screenplay-in-progress is the raw material, and your job as the writer is to continuously work with it and shape it in order to get it to the final version – the one that tells your story in the best way possible.

If that means discarding something for something new, so be it. Even more so if the new something is even more effective.

*that’s no random mugshot. It’s Academy Award-winning screenwriter Ring Lardner, Jr. during the Red Scare.

Enjoying it – while it lasts

Maximum Z animation, comedy, determination, draft, editing, encouragement, fantasy, jokes, notes, perseverance, persistence, productivity, reading, rewriting, screenplay, screenwriting, script, writing , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Slight shorty today.

The latest draft of the animated fantasy-comedy spec is in the hands of some beta readers.

One has already gotten back to me with some suggestions of minor fixes, but overall very positive comments.

Which is really, really nice.

And they also liked a lot of the jokes, which is definitely nice to hear.

I can’t really explain it, but there’s something about this script that’s giving me a real positive vibe.

It’s been a while since I’ve felt this way about a script this early in the process, so like the title of the post says, I’m riding this wave of positivity as long and as far as it’ll take me.

I’m sure it’ll require at least another pass, maybe two, until it gets to the quality I want it to be, but for now, I really like how it turned out.

Like with each of my scripts, I had fun writing it, and hope the reader has an equally great time reading it. This is something every writer should experience. It really does make a difference.

As the wait for the remaining notes continues, the focus shifts to cranking out pages for the microbudget feature, which is coming along nicely, thanks for asking.

Hope you have an exceptionally productive weekend.

Seeing some shine on that diamond in the rough

Maximum Z animation, comedy, determination, dialogue, draft, editing, fantasy, jokes, pages, perseverance, persistence, rewriting, scenes, screenplay, screenwriting, script, writing , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Even as I was getting the latest book ready over the past few weeks, I still made an effort to split time among a few other ongoing projects.

On that list: a severe edit of the animated fantasy-comedy spec.

The previous draft had clocked in at 120 pages, which admittedly is kind of long, especially for an animated story.

So it had to not only be tightened up in regards to what’s on the page, but also the actual number of pages. Fifteen to twenty, while seemingly excessive, felt appropriate.

Armed with some exceptional notes and a strong idea of all the issues that needed addressing, I set to it.

The phrase “kill your darlings” played a significant role during this process. Several scenes I loved were, as pointed out by an extremely savvy reader, more of a distraction from the main storyline and were actually slowing down the read.

Highlight, delete, mourn their demise, move on.

A good number of scenes underwent a major overhaul, including severe tightening up, rephrasing of dialogue, and a whole lot of moving stuff around. Sometimes a change would be made that I didn’t realize needed to be made. That’s always a surprise.

All of this combined ended up cutting 14 pages, bringing the grand total down to 106. Not too bad.

From my perspective, what ended up being the biggest accomplishment was that the whole thing seemed stronger than before; more put-together. It’s been a while since I’ve felt this positive about a draft.

It’s been sent to the latest batch of readers, and I’ve no doubt they’ll do a bang-up job in finding faults and spotlighting what needs work. As they should, and that’s fine with me.

It’ll help the next draft be even better.