You’ve written the script and sent it out to your circle for feedback, excitedly waiting to hear how great it was… and they loved it! But they have comments and you need to rewrite them again.
It can be difficult to go through your notes and figure out what to do with them, but you can take control by breaking down the process into clear steps.
Break down the process
First, you must organize your notes into three basic areas: structure, scene, and format. You’ll think about your character’s arc as you go through it, and it’s just one way to organize your notes.
Structure refers to the broad strokes and backbone character moments that create a character arc.
A scene refers to a single scene. You will consider how they are strung together in the “structural” process.
Finally, you’ll clean up any typos, grammar, and formatting during the “formatting” process, while revising any dialogue and prose you feel are needed.
Make sure you keep the theme in mind throughout. Every time you look at a script and a piece of it, you should ask yourself what it brings to the script’s themes and the protagonist’s character arc. Ultimately, the lesson your protagonist learns is the central theme or central question of your script, so they run parallel. The trick is that as you write, you want to make sure you keep applying themes and character arcs at every level of the rewrite, creating a cohesive story that producers and reps love.
Read more: What is the core issue? (Why is it important to your script?)
1. Structure transfer
If you’ve ever listened to the Screenwriter’s Life podcast hosted by Meg LeFauve and Lorien McKenna, you’ve probably heard the advice: take a step back and start at “30,000 feet “Look at your script from a high level.” You’ll review notes that ultimately critique the script in general, including overall character arcs, pacing, and how scenes are constructed, the introduction of new characters and scenes, and more.
All of these elements should create an emotional arc for your protagonist in the story, one that drives and supports your central theme.
You may have to go back to the outline to be able to move parts around more easily in your mind, or to see where the script works differently than you planned in the outline. This is also a good time to go back to your notepads (if you’re using this method) and move them around (either on a cork board or through Final Draft’s Beatboard feature).
If you are someone who likes to follow a three-act structure, this is the point where you should take a step back and look at these sequences and see how they are constructed.
If you don’t feel so strict, think of your story as a “check-in” for your protagonist, serving as a more visible beat that allows us to see and feel their challenges and growth. Or as poles to support a tent.
Within the sequence, these will be the climax or turning point that ends each sequence and may set the stage for the next sequence. Without regard to sequence structure, these moments are what you build about every 10 pages or so.
Read more: 6 ways to free yourself from over-editing
2. Scene Pass
This is the meat and potatoes of your script, where you’ll likely spend most of your rewriting time. Notes in this area will focus on how different characters behave in scenes, building tension and stakes, making sure your story feels alive enough on the page, whether readers are able to follow your protagonist’s choices, and more. here.
When you complete the structure pass, you will also take notes as you make the scene pass. Don’t get ahead of yourself, that’s the whole point of breaking it down into three easy steps.
When you do a structural pass, you can move scenes around so you don’t have to rewrite them for temporal and emotional continuity. You can take note of what you need to add to each scene, and this is your process for making those additions.
When you’re done, read through your work to make sure it’s structured the way you want it, and take notes to make adjustments. Think of your scenes as individual moments and how they move from one moment to the next. Consider the “but/therefore” exercise used by Trey Parker and Matt Stone south parkto ensure you take your audience from the first page to the end.
3. Formatting, typos and punch-holes
Finally, but most importantly, it’s time to clean up the scripts during the formatting process. Depending on where you are in your screenwriting journey, you may need to make a lot of changes to the format (although investing in software like Final Draft can make this easier).
For those of you who are more experienced, you may not need to spend time on formatting, but everyone needs help with spelling mistakes, grammar corrections, and minor punch-ups.
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How much time you spend rewriting and in what areas will depend on what your notes are most directed to. If it’s an early draft, you’ll probably look at the structure and spend a lot of time moving scenes, editing, and creating new beats. If you’re in a later draft, you may just need to punch holes.
The script most likely spent a lot of time on structure, but mainly focused on scene work in the rewrite, since scenes are the main building blocks of the script. But by breaking down the rewriting process into these simple steps, you won’t feel overwhelmed when you dive into the page. The less pain you feel while rewriting, the stronger your draft will end up being.
