The Three Steps of Rewriting

For those who missed it...

But… Do I Have To?

So, you finally finished your first draft. Congratulations, that’s huge.

What’s the next step, you ask? Realizing that it still needs A LOT of work.

The whole “Writing is re-writing” thing is hardly a new concept, but it’s one that a lot of writers early on like to pretend they can’t hear. I get it.

Rewriting is HARD.

Unfortunately, it’s also necessary, no matter how happy you are with what you’ve initially written. Why is it necessary? Why am I so certain that your genius first effort can still hugely benefit from revision?

Because rewrites are where you can:

• achieve greater depth by adding layers and subtext

• increase emotional impact by refining arcs and plot points

• clarify by finding simple solutions to overly complex story elements or ideas

• quicken the pace by trimming superfluous elements

• make your script stand out by adding style, flair, and unique details

In other words, rewriting is where your script goes from ‘pretty good’ to ‘I have to see this movie.’

Okay, fine, you say, I’ll do a rewrite.

But, let’s say you’ve got, give or take, 100 pages of your blood, sweat and tears in front of you, where on Earth do you begin?

The long answer involves a million different writers’ million different approaches - there is no one way to do this stuff and what works for one person might not work for someone else.

The short answer is: here’s how I do it.

First: Strengthen and clarify your vision

This is huge. Of course, having a vision is important when you start writing to begin with but it’s something I find is crucial to revisit often, especially when returning to a draft for a rewrite.

In fact, if I were to only offer one action item in approaching a rewrite, it would be to strengthen and clarify your vision. You must have a North Star.

If you don’t, you’ll find your drafts end up just being ‘different’ instead of ‘better.’ You’ll travel sideways instead of moving forward. To move forward, you have to know where you are going.

So, ask yourself, what kind of film are you making? What are the benchmarks for that kind of film? Are you achieving those benchmarks?

Here is where I can find it incredibly useful to select movie comps. Some people might balk at this idea, as if you are ‘copying’ another artist, but I think that’s nonsense. Artists draw inspiration from other artists all the time. It’s how new art gets made.

What other movies FEEL like the movie you’re trying to write?

What other movies have the PACE like the movie you’re trying to write?

What other movies have the TONE you’re trying to achieve?

What other movies END the way you want yours to?

What other movies BEGIN the way you want yours to?

And keep going. Zero in on the elements that are important to you.

Build your Frankenstein vision. You want your script to feel like The Matrix but with the pace of Out of Africa and the tone of Shaun of the Dead. It begins like Fargo and ends like True Romance.

Wow, that’s like a madlib. But, that Movie Frankenstein? It’s yours. No one else is putting all of those things together and in the way you’re going to do it.

Second: Macro to Micro

This is really important to my process but I know a lot of writers do this differently. Some like to start with one element and do a ‘pass’ on the script and then start another. I guess I sort of do that, but I have a VERY specific order to the ‘passes’.

I start wide and then zoom in.

It’s exceptionally rare that your rewrite won’t require some big changes to the story, plot, or structure of the script.

Please, start with these. If you don’t, you’ll find you wrote the perfect piece of dialogue for a scene you need to cut or character you need to change. You end up redoing a lot of work and this is a surefire way to get your thinking muddled after awhile.

So, I say, make the big moves first, then go in with the fine tuning.

• return to your three act structure and 8 sequences (if you’re not using this method, then revisit whatever kind of framework you created for yourself)

  • while staying in this big picture view, address any issues with plot / story in broad strokes

  • then, still in this view, track your main characters’ arcs through the 8 sequences and make adjustments in broad strokes

  • once you’ve decided on what changes you want to make to these elements on this general level, return to the script to make them, without getting too precious. You’ll want to keep this rough because

  • you’ll continue to move things around, remove/add until it feels right - your first attempts to address the issues might not solve the problem you’re trying to fix

• only once you feel the macro issues are resolved:

  • then, refine by enhancing conflict/drama and dialing in dialogue

  • repeat until you feel everything is achieving what you want it to

• last, fine tune with trims, polish and peppering.

Third: Getting Feedback

Knowing how to take notes from others is so important. The lack of perspective we have of our own work can create ginormous blindspots and often the only way we can see them is if someone else points them out.

And, yes, you do need to address all of the people’s notes, even the dumb ones. It’s about knowing HOW you take them that is the key.

This is where the first step you took on this journey becomes SO CRUCIAL.

You need to have a strong and clear vision. That way, when you get a bunch of notes, and some of them are totally wacky, you’ll know what to do.

The notes process:

• first, translate them. People have a tendency to give notes based on what they think you should do, usually because they don’t have the film language to say what they really mean. For example, if someone says, “I think that character should rob a bank” what they might really mean is, this character is feeling predictable, or this character needs more to do. So, translate all the notes from action items (do this) to impressions (this is how it felt).

Then, for the impressions that resonate:

• filter those through the lens of your vision - how would you create the desired impression in your Frankenstein movie? - and then execute the solution as it makes sense for your script.

For impressions that seem wacky:

• If they’re really out there, these are usually occurring because the person has expectations for the movie to be a certain way. This is a HUGE SIGN that you’re not communicating your vision clearly enough. So, rather than changing your vision of the movie to address their note, take it as a sign that you need to double down on the path you are taking. Make it undeniable what you want this movie to be so that no one will have the chance to try and suggest it be something else.