How I Write A Script, Part 10: Third Draft

Here's another in a series of 10 posts about how I approach writing a script. Previous posts:

Part 1: Story Concept

Part 2: Brainstorming

Part 3: Research

Part 4: Character Development

Part 5: Plotting

Part 6: Outline

Part 7: Script Diary

Part 8: First Draft

Part 9: Second Draft

PART 10: THIRD DRAFT

This is the most fun part of the process. I just love printing out a fresh copy of the script, plunked down in my reading chair, Pentel Rolling Writer pen in hand, and just sit with my story. I mark that draft up but good – page after page after page. I’ve developed my own code system:

AW = “Another word”

AL = “Another line”

BV = “Better verb”

OTT = “Over The Top”

OTN = “On The Nose”

SSS = “Some stupid shit”

There’s also description and dialogue with big X’s through them – as in “cut this out”. I’ll have lines running from one page to the next, telling me to move this scene in front of that one. I’ll have all sorts of notes in the margins about transitions, visual images, and such.

So I go back through the script and make the changes. And I do this same process over and over, each time refining the draft.

As it gets closer to being finished, I get real picky. For instance, I’ll highlight each verb and come up with better, more active verbs. I’ll print out every side of dialogue for each character, then read them back to back to make sure I’m nailing their voice. And I’m constantly cutting description, cutting dialogue. I can get very anal about this as I really want each page to look beautiful, easy on the eyes, a clean read.

And then, one final print-out, where I read the script through aloud. Every word. It’s amazing how hearing your words can expose them in a wholly fresh way. As I read, I write changes on the hard copy of the script. Then it’s one last edit. Save. Print.

The final thing I do is a silly ritual. I stand by the printer as it spits out the pages of my script. Once it’s done printing, I immediately pick up the pages. I feel the warmth of the paper, fresh from the printer. I weigh the heft of the pages in my hands. Then I smell it. That’s right, I smell the script. I have smelled many things in my life, but there is perhaps nothing more satisfying than breathing deep the aroma of a finished script.

And that’s how I write a script.