Sometimes a story can just flow out of you.
Other times, it’s like pulling teeth.
So how about it?
What’s the least amount of time (days, weeks, months) it took you to start and complete an original screenplay?
What’s the longest amount of time (months, years) it took for you write a screenplay?
And the bonus question: Why did do you think it took so little / much time to write the script?
I once was asked to do a screenplay of a three-sentence concept by a producer-director. I started working and had a first-draft screenplay of 110 pages in 5 days. It never ended up getting made, however. Familiar story.
Shortest time to write a script: about 6 weeks last spring/summer for a romantic comedy I wrote entitled: "Cupid Got Stupid."
Why so short? 1) I was unemployed. 2) Most of the story's background was VERY fresh in my mind, as it was a takeoff of the most recent job I had. 3) Imagined Jennifer Aniston as the female romantic lead, Carlos Bernard (Tony Almeda from Fox's "24") really helped me discover this rom-com's leads characters very quickly.
Longest time to write a script: about 10 months to write my biblical adaptation of the Saul and David story in the bible.
Why so long? I wanted to do the story justice, YET tell it in a way it had never been told before. Takes some creative licence, YET remain true to the underlying story. Did a lot of research. Breaking down the story, finding out what to add, and what to leave out. Found out the story I wanted to tell worked out best as a two part movie. First drafts for both scripts were VERY LONG: 283 pages, 187 pages. Yet editting them down wasn't as bad as I thought it would be… (took about a month) And now I am VERY PROUD of how both stories turned out.
- E.C. Henry from Bonney Lake, WA
I have ideas that I started playing with 18 years ago. They are still in notes. I am nearly ready to go to draft on one that is about 14 years old. As for why, it's usually just life getting in the way. But I'd wager that if I saw the solutions to getting to a draft clearly in fron to me, I'd do it non-stop until I had that draft.
I recall hearing a story about a pulp novelist (Lester Dent or Walter Gibson, I believe) who wrote an entire novel in the office of his house as it was built around him – framed, at least – over 48 hours.
Those pulp guys could crank!
While I'm yet to complete a screenplay, I did pump out two half-hour episodes of my first spec pilot in about a week.
The biggest reason was that I knew the stories, plot and subplots inside out before I started writing, so when I started to write everything just flowed until I turned off the tap.
Of course, they suck in hindsight. But they can be polished!
And most importantly it's another lesson that I shouldn't start writing until I know where I'm going with the story.
My longest one took me about 8 months writing on and off to finish a 15 page script…
Why? The first draft was 7 pages. The feedback that I got on it was that I expected too much of the audience to understand the complexities of the story…
Over time and getting feedback from other writers, directors etc. on this, it ended up at 15 pages. At that point someone could read it and get all of the plot points in one or two readings tops.
I am a big fan of limiting the story to it's bare minimum possible to get the story across. Sometimes I go too far…
The other issue was that I would only work on it for about an hour at a time in-between assignments as I was in no rush to finish it.
It reminded me of a bit of commentary on the DVD of Ronin. John Frankenheimer mentioned that he had a scene where the gang was leaving the loft and getting into the cars to go and scout the location for the heist.
He said that he missed the transition shot between the gang leaving the loft and getting into the cars to leave (a shot of them all going down the stairs) and was worried about it until he saw it cut together and realized it was not needed…
I always hated useless transitions that have nothing in them to advance the story. If someone is leaving the house and that is clear, just let me see them arrive at the destination. I can figure out that they drove there…
Well my first screenplay took me a little over a year to write. My second Screenplay, however, took me 4-5 days to finish.
5 days. That was the fastest.
Longest? Over a year (i have one project which may break that record).
If I have the major beats worked out in the story, I can write it to the end … average about 3 pages an hour.
If the story hits a snag, which happens all too otfen, then it slows down until I fix the problem and if I don't, it can stall it completely until solved.
They all take 3 months. How much are you paying?
The longest amount of time for me to write a screenplay: a year from first to fifth (final) draft. Why so long? My manager's notes. His notes were completely contradictory and a year later he wondered if the story was "big enough".
I'm currently looking for a new manager.
The shortest time was my most recently completed script: three weeks. It's amazing how much writing you can get done when you're laid off.
fastest I wrote was my first feature script, which took about a month and a half (while i was going to high school seven hours a day too!). My second feature has been torturing/annoying me for a full year and i've only just gotten the first draft out.
I think the first one was so quick because it was very closely related to the experiences I was having at the time, and I was writing it almost as therapy. (consequentially… it wasn't very good). But it definitely taught me a lot about writing!
The second one has taken me so long because I don't know the world that i'm writing about intimately, so i keep getting tangled up in the research.
Side from those, I've written scripts for shorts in a few hours. Just depends on how long they've been lurking around in my sub-concious.
If we're talking first drafts… One month is the shortest. Three months is the longest. Those numbers are in reference to the time I actually sit down to finish the damn thing, because I have a habit of starting a script, getting 15 pages in, then shelving it for a year. I later go back and take the script to the end.
A friend of mine was in town over a three day weekend and we met up for lunch on that Saturday. Sunday afternoon she’d be on a plane back to Atlanta. During that lunch a friend of hers called and coincidentally he was in town as well, from New York. They’re both in the music business, but her friend was transitioning into the film industry. He was doing some work and her name came up and that’s why he called her.
Anyways, she thought the coincidence of them both being in town at the same time was too creepy to ignore and so she decided to meet him for drinks later that night. Socially.
After the call ended, she tells me about this guy and how she thinks it would be beneficial for me to meet him as he was coming up the ladder real quick and would probably like my work. She mentioned a few networks and Dreamworks within the same sentence and I said “Alright, I’ll go for a round”.
On the way home from lunch I realized that all the work I had to talk about was work already out there and that’s past tense. So around 2 that afternoon I unwrap a fresh pack of smokes as I sit at my table and started to write something that I thought would pique the interest of this guy I never met – just to be able to say “I’m working on something now” and not be lying to the guy.
Eight and a half hours later I have a pilot script and treatment – 56 pages – printed out and everything.
At 11:30 PM I get a text from my friend: “whr u @” – which I translated into “We’ve been out for a while and haven’t heard from you, are you on your way or are you punking out?” That was my cue.
I met them for that round at around midnight.We left after last call. Before we went on our ways I pulled the script from the passenger seat of my Maserati and handed it to him. He smiled. My friend smiled. I smiled.
On the way home I realized two things. No three. ONE – Always be ready, TWO – Never doubt yourself, and THREE – A ’79 F-250 is NOT a Maserati.
Just signed up to the boards (Propadanda), I'm yet to write a screenplay at my relatively meagre 18 years of age but I have a biopic on the cards. I'm doing prep work now and have written a handful of scenes. If I can finish it in a couple of months I'll be happy.
Just as a sidenote, E.C. Henry, do you feel comfortable at all with letting other people read your screenplays in whatever stage they're at? If so, I wouldn't mind having a look at your Biblical one, just because I've grown up surrounded by religion (my dad is a minister) and would be fascinated to read something like that.
On the other hand, no worries if you're not cool with that.
I did a work for hire for a local producer that needed a rough draft in two months. Subsequent drafts continued on for about 4 more months.
If you count the time my own stories bounce around in my head, my specs can take a couple years. Once I've started a breakdown it's roughly six to nine months for a rough draft.