How do I do rewrites?

[Brandonmonahan]

Okay so I'm almost finished my first feature script. It is a commercial Irish teen comedy. I know however that it will require at least one major rewrite but I don't know how to approach it. Is it best to just edit the finished draft or open a new file and start from scratch? Any and all advice would be appreciated.

 

[KnightsFan]

It's up to you. I usually directly edit the draft, but I go page by page and rewrite everything from scratch. It's like starting a new file, but it's nice to be able to read ahead and see where I am supposed to be going with a particular scene, so I keep it all in the same place. I usually back up the draft before rewriting everything.

 

[mad_hatter]

My personal preference is to re-type everything. Having said that, for me it’s pretty much a necessity, as I almost always write my initial vomit draft in Word. I'll then chop and change things as I re-type it into Celtx. Hopefully, by that point, I’ll be happy with the general structure of the screenplay, so any further changes are relatively minor and can be done directly onto a new copy of the complete screenplay in Celtx.

 

[Brandonmonahan]

My personal preference is to re-type everything. Having said that, for me it’s pretty much a necessity, as I almost always write my initial vomit draft in Word. I'll then chop and change things as I re-type it into Celtx. Hopefully, by that point, I’ll be happy with the general structure of the screenplay, so any further changes are relatively minor and can be done directly onto a new copy of the complete screenplay in Celtx.

Thanks for replying. An "initial vomit" is probably the best way to describe the state of the script in its current form. I think retyping may be the way to go because one the major reasons for the rewrite is pacing problems. I think trying to do it page by page may get too messy.

 

[derek smith]

I printed my first draft out....using the synopsis, I wrot the main points of the film in order they happen by bullet point...then read through the script, ensuring they matched up....I posted my first 3 pages of my screenplay up here...got some great advice, and completey changed 60% of the story for the good...how did you structure your screenplay??? 3 act structure etc?

 

[Brandonmonahan]

I printed my first draft out....using the synopsis, I wrot the main points of the film in order they happen by bullet point...then read through the script, ensuring they matched up....I posted my first 3 pages of my screenplay up here...got some great advice, and completey changed 60% of the story for the good...how did you structure your screenplay??? 3 act structure etc?

I used the standard three act structure, Campbell's monomyth(hero's journey), all that good stuff. In the first draft I just tried to get the whole concept into writing and didn't pay too much attention to structure. When I'm doing the second draft I'm gonna use Blake Snyder's beat sheet to make things happen in the script "when they're supposed to".

 

[derek smith]

I used the standard three act structure, Campbell's monomyth(hero's journey), all that good stuff. In the first draft I just tried to get the whole concept into writing and didn't pay too much attention to structure. When I'm doing the second draft I'm gonna use Blake Snyder's beat sheet to make things happen in the script "when they're supposed to".

good luck with it...one thing I would say, is when comparing your story to any method or set structure, don't try and force story lines into sequence according toi them, as you might fit your main points in, but the story may lose fluency