Three months into the new year and I am eager to get started on the first draft of a new screenplay. I’ve had this idea for a story since my accident, 25 years ago, and now I’m ready to attempt the first draft.
First drafts are only a part of the screenwriting process and the first step in the process of drafting. Drafting is a structured process that involves steps in creating a piece of work. Screenwriting typically has four phases of drafts, each with its unique audience, according to Naomi Write at Writeandco.com.
Draft Phases
- Me draft
- Audience draft
- Producer draft
- Audience draft
The goal of drafting is to create the best possible story that will be appealing to and readable by different audiences. It also allows a screenwriter to edit a screenplay for typos, grammatical errors, and repetitions.
Additionally, it helps create the characters, story plot, and conflict. As you can see drafting, editing, and rewriting are all part of the writing process.
Rewriting Is Writing!
No screenplay, prose, or story is written perfectly the first time. Professional writers understand that editing is writing. Editing and rewriting set a professional writer apart from amateurs.
Edited screenplays have been refined through the drafting process and have well-developed characters, clearly defined worlds, and obvious conflict. The stories are also easier to read because there aren’t any typos or grammatical errors to slow the reader down.
Edited screenplays are also clearly unique narratives that can spark our readers’ imagination. A screenplay can be like another movie, but not a retelling of a story we already know.
Your story must be clear to others and not just yourself. Remember to keep the story simple. Below are common writing mistakes new writers make from Ben Larned at Screencraft.com.
10 Common Writing Mistakes
- Neglecting spelling and grammar.
- Incorrect formatting.
- Drawing from tropes.
- Forgetting the plot (or, skipping the outline).
- Crafting awkward, listless, or endless dialogue.
- Playing director in descriptions.
- Not punishing your characters.
- Leaving your story unfinished (or too neat).
- Letting the first acts slide (or, saving the best for last).
- Submitting without rereading.
Screenwriting teacher, Scott Myer’s mantra is…
“Rewriting is writing.”
With each draft there should be fewer and fewer mistakes and misunderstandings. Editing and rewriting help writers grow from amateurs to professionals.
This is why it is important to get feedback on our screenwriting, friends and family are nice, but professional coverage from industry insiders who know what screenplays need is best. Script coverage helps writers see flaws, know what to keep and what to get rid of.
When I first began screenwriting, I learned an important lesson. Writers mustn’t like their stories too much and must be willing to cut what doesn’t work. Regardless of how much you like a character, setting, or scene; if it doesn’t help the story, it needs to go on the cutting block.
Cut to Finish!
The goal of editing and rewriting is to trim the fat off a screenplay and help it flow better as a story. A screenwriter doesn’t have that much real estate to introduce characters, create conflict, and set up the plot.
In the old days, the general rule was a screenplay should be no longer than 120 pages, nowadays it’s around 100 pages—from start to finish, a complete story with new worlds, characters, and enough action to hold an audience’s attention for the entire movie.
Therefore, it’s important for the audience to enter a scene as late as possible and get out or move to the next scene of a movie. All while flowing smoothly without losing the audiences’ attention. The idea is to save space in a screenplay.
Even after a movie has finished shooting, editing in the studio helps cut the “fat” or nonessential parts of a movie out before the movie is released. Below are a few examples known for the bad editing before they were released.
Even big-budget movies from major studios can create the critical errors of bad editing and skipping rewrites. A movie is only finished by rewriting, because rewriting is writing!
Martin Johnson survived a severe car accident with a (T.B.I.) Traumatic brain injury which left him legally blind and partially paralyzed on the left side. He is an award-winning Christian screenwriter who has recently finished his first Christian nonfiction book. Martin has spent the last nine years volunteering as an ambassador and promoter for Promise Keepers ministries. While speaking to local men’s ministries he shares his testimony. He explains The Jesus Paradigm and how following Jesus changes what matters most in our lives. Martin lives in a Georgia and connects with readers at MartinThomasJonhson.com and on Twitter at mtjohnson51.
