When talking about my screenplay CONUNDRA, I'm often asked - what draft is this? All I know is that I've spent 3 years piecing the story and all the suspenseful twists and turns together; then I wrote it, tweaked it, gave some characters a make-over; did some more tweaking. Then I decided that one of the supporting characters was the true protagonist, so i re-structured the entire thing; developed his character and story some more - then repeated most of the above. So, what constitutes one draft? Every time you tweak it? Or every major re-write? Every time characters are developed further??
Screenwriting : Drowning in drafts by Kamala Lane
Drowning in drafts
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Have you taken a script writing class?
I haven't. Should I?
Yes. I would recommend Syd Field's Screenwriting Course on DVD... (It is on You Tube as well but go ahead and buy the DVD because you will want to watch it over and over until you get the hang of it. As an emerging screenwriter you do not need to put so much time into a spec script. I spent about a year on my first script and then I took Syd Field's course and completely chucked it. Now it takes me about three months to get to a Final Spec Draft...
I'm not sure why people are asking you what draft it is? I do agree with your questions though, and no, not every tweak should be a classed as a new draft. I began to write a short film at school, when it finally got to the end stage I had over 12 files, each with various changes, but I wouldn't have said that I had written 12 drafts, Only three or four were big ones, structurally. Regarding script writing classes, there isn't really anything that you can't learn on the Internet for free, There are many books, Syd Fields are good, Blake Snyders books are great, as is his internet site. For the most part it is trial and error, but 3 years is a long time to spend on something. I have to ask, have you had any coverage on it, sent it out to competitions, like PAGE or Nicholls? We do become attached to our first script. I love mine with a passion, but there is nothing I can do with it, it will probably never see the light of day as a feature script, I was thinking of maybe a TV series with it, but who knows, just now, I can't look at it, for all the mistakes that need fixing, lol... Just my humble thoughts. :)
Sounds good, ladies. Thanx.
My first book, "Steve McQueen: Portrait of an American Rebel" must have had 25 drafts....
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What Dan said! Baby girl, the next time someone asks you that question just reply, "The best one."
Sounds good, fellas!