The First Draft...

One of the toughest ideas screenwriters have to get used to is the fact that their first draft is utter crap. Seriously. I think most folks get so elated that they've finished their script that they automatically think it's ready. Not true. But I had that same idea. See, since I come from books, I tend to write my manuscript, go over it a few times, and then send it to the editor, where she'll tell me where all of the crap is located. With scripts, that's the writer's job. So you have to rewrite, rewrite, and rewrite some more. And that's why I'm not too concerned if my Yardies script isn't the greatest. As my teacher Dave says, this draft is just a blueprint. And that's what I see. In the fifty or so pages written, I have TONS of plot holes to be filled, description to be tightened, and dialogue to be revamped. But I'm going to press on without looking back. We only get ten weeks (really nine weeks) to start, write and finish a script. With that short period of time, you've got to plow through. So, it's onward tonight. I'm looking to write seven to ten pages.