Ah, the writing process, a lonely, self-deprecating process that brings out all your life long insecurities. They say writers, by definition, are introverts. I guess because when it’s just you, mono a computer-o, spending many, many hours translating inner thoughts and dialogue into words on a page, it can be rather non-social. Some are fine with this fact and even relish in the idea of not having to deal with other living souls. But I, myself, am not one of those types. I love to interact with others and even feel I gain more energy and creativity when surrounded by them or when bouncing ideas off each other. But, when you get into the writing process, very few have the luxury or compatibility to actually write a script out with another human being. So, for most of us, just as in death, you write alone.
So, on this lonely journey of scriptwriter-hood I plunged, in the hopes of creating scripts of sheer comedic genius. If you have been following along with me in the process of putting together the web series I am co-creating, you know that just last month we held a four-day writing session. There were five of us writers. Awesome, amazing, and talented individuals, I must say. The group was lively with jokes being thrown about. And the laughs were plentiful. There were so many great ideas. Afterwards it became my job to take those ideas and fit them into a ten-page maximum script for each of the six episodes. You may think that with all that help in breaking story, the writing portion of it would be a breeze, right? Well, while it makes the job of the writer easier, it does not make it easy. So, for those of you who do not break story, write character bios or gain an understanding of your world and its backstory before you begin to write, uh… good luck!
First thing I did was create a document that housed the scene by scene breakdowns of the episodes and all the notes taken for each. This was a great reference, so every time I finished a scene I could refer back to that document to see what was next. Hey, I can’t remember everything. I think one of the hardest parts of being the writer of a script is coming up with all the details and dialogue. When you’re in the writing session with others there are always bits of dialogue and details that come out of it, but most of that stuff is gonna have to come from you. I envy those of you who are the Quentin Tarantinos of dialogue, I myself find that dialogue is the hardest part of scriptwriting for me and the source of all my writer-insecurities. But Alas, in order to get better we must push through and overcome. I’d like to think I am getting better… maybe? =)
I set out to write six killer episodes of approximately 9-10 pages each. The Pilot episode ended up being spilt. The initial idea was to have a quick party introduction to the leads and all recurring characters along with the set up of how our couple ends up broke. The name of the series is “Newlywed and Broke” after all. Then, in the same episode, we were to show one of the first ways they attempt to make money. Well, being a webseries, you are given a very, very limited amount of time, which translates to a very, very limited amount of pages. Needless to say, I couldn’t fit the opening set-up along with the set-up through resolution for the moneymaking scheme in 9-10 pages. I had to split them into two separate episodes. Big rule of thumb when writing anything: Always be willing to kill your babies. Ideas change, and even though you wrote that awesome scene where those two guys get into a bar brawl, if it doesn’t fit into the story or there’s not enough time, or the character isn’t as fleshed out, you have to be willing to cut it out completely or be open to changing it until it does work. I know, I know, we are purveyors of English elegance, word smiths, artists of the vocabulary kind. And as artists, we are sensitive when our work is critiqued or judged. Little do most know, but taking criticism and suggestions can be its own art form and, if done well, can guarantee your success in this crazy business of entertainment, so practice, practice, practice!
After four weeks, I finished the rough drafts of now seven scripts. I scheduled my time, sat and wrote out a vomit draft for each first. What is a vomit draft, you ask? It’s when you write and keep writing until you finish. You don’t go back and reread or rewrite as you go. I’ve found that hinders the process and brings out the neurosis: This sucks. I’m not good enough. I should just quit. Get comfortable with the idea that your first draft is never going to be great, but it can get there, eventually. That’s where rewriting comes in, and rewriting and rewriting. This is a process people, respect that. I used to go back and reread and rewrite as I wrote and guess what happened? I never finished a piece. A great suggestion I picked up from a workshop one time was to get a spiral notebook and hand write the first draft. That way you have no choice but to push forward. Any which way, do not begin to rewrite or even reread anything you’ve written until the vomit draft is complete!
After I finished a vomit draft for each episode, I went back through and cleaned everything up, rewrote dialogue (another reason it helps to write all the way through is you learn more about your characters, so when you rewrite you understand an even better way for them to say things), and also had better ideas for jokes. Then… well, just a couple days ago in fact, I sent out all the scripts to my writing team. We are to meet again to go over all the drafts and make changes. We’re not in this alone, we can venture out and seek guidance and advice and suggestions with the people we know and trust. And I love this because wherever my scripts are at now, I know with the help of my writing team the story will get better, the scripts will be tighter, and the characters clearer, to ensure our final product (the completed webseries) is the absolute best it can be! That should be everyone’s ultimate goal!
Stay tuned, as next month I’ll be discussing the rewriting process of our webseries along with what it’s like to bring on a joke-writer to punch up your script!