We all talk about 'rewriting' our scripts. The rewrite is where we spend a lot of time. Second draft. Third draft. Polish. But what *is* a rewrite?
I've been pondering this because maybe I am not actually rewriting. When my draft is finished, I go through it, make notes, cross out dialogue, write new dialogue and create new scenes. Then I go back to my FD file and start acting on my notes: adding, deleting, changing. But this is augmentation, revision, not rewriting...is it? It isn't like I sit down and type an entirely new draft from scratch.
So what *is* rewriting as you do it? What seperates a first draft from a second draft? How much has to be different?
Maybe I need a rewriting class...
Sunday, July 03, 2005
What is a rewrite?
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5 comments:
got your note about the spec, I'd love to read it...you can reach me/send it to moviequill at yahoo.com (thanks)
I am more of a Builder type, I nail specific scenes down first (in non-linear chronological order) and then I look for the connecting blocks to tie them together. So I add and subtract a lot of material before I even have a full first draft. So I suppose a re-write for me would be radical changes
I use the terms rewrite and revise interchangeably and I don't think about it too much or my eyes might go cross :)
I'd say that what you're doing is rewriting. Revising is what rewriting is all about. There's many degrees of rewriting of course, but even the smallest revisioins are rewrites, imo.
Nice blog by the by!
The way Shawna rewrites is a lot like I rewrite. The Town folk might call minor changes (tweaks to me) a polish, i.e. dialogue changes, continuity corrections, and those evil typos.
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