12.1 The Rewriting Process
3 min read•august 6, 2024
Rewriting is a crucial part of screenwriting. It's where the magic happens, transforming rough ideas into polished scripts. This process involves multiple stages, from to fine-tuning every line.
Writers revise their work through iterative rounds, focusing on different aspects each time. They set goals, track progress, and often seek outside . This helps maintain story and enhance for a compelling narrative.
Editing Stages
Initial Drafting and Structural Editing
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- First draft lays the foundation for the screenplay, focusing on getting the story and ideas down on paper without worrying too much about perfection
- Structural edit involves analyzing the overall story structure, ensuring the plot points, character arcs, and pacing are well-constructed and engaging
- Identifies and addresses major issues such as plot holes, weak character motivations, or unclear themes
- Ensures the screenplay follows a logical and compelling (setup, confrontation, resolution)
Line Editing and Polishing
- Line edit focuses on refining the , , and to improve clarity, concision, and impact
- Eliminates unnecessary words, phrases, or scenes that do not advance the story or reveal character
- Enhances the flow and rhythm of the writing, making it more engaging and easier to read
- Polish involves fine-tuning the script, paying attention to grammar, punctuation, , and style consistency
- Ensures the screenplay adheres to and is free of typographical and formatting errors
- Prepares the script for submission to agents, producers, or script competitions
Revision Process
Iterative Revision Rounds and Script Coverage
- Revision rounds involve making multiple passes through the script, addressing different aspects of the story and writing with each iteration
- Allows the writer to focus on specific elements (, dialogue, pacing) in each round, ensuring a thorough and comprehensive
- is a professional analysis of the screenplay, often provided by readers or consultants, offering insights and suggestions for improvement
- Helps identify strengths and weaknesses in the script from an objective perspective
- Provides the writer with actionable feedback to guide their revision process
Setting Rewrite Goals and Tracking Progress
- help the writer prioritize the changes and improvements they want to make in each revision round
- Ensures the revision process remains focused and efficient, addressing the most critical issues first
- Allows the writer to break down the revision process into manageable tasks and milestones
- throughout the revision process helps the writer stay motivated and accountable
- Provides a clear overview of the work accomplished and the tasks remaining
- Helps the writer celebrate small victories and maintain momentum as they work towards completing the final draft
Story Elements
Maintaining Continuity and Consistency
- Continuity refers to the logical consistency of events, characters, and settings throughout the screenplay
- Ensures that character actions, dialogue, and decisions align with their established traits and motivations
- Maintains a coherent timeline and avoids contradictions or plot holes that can confuse or disengage the audience
- involves ensuring that characters behave and develop in a believable and authentic manner throughout the story
- Ensures that character growth and changes are gradual and justified by their experiences and interactions
- Avoids sudden or inexplicable shifts in character personality or behavior that can undermine the audience's investment in the story
Enhancing Pacing and Narrative Flow
- Pacing refers to the speed and rhythm at which the story unfolds, balancing action, dialogue, and reflection to maintain audience engagement
- Ensures that the screenplay moves forward at an appropriate pace, avoiding sluggish or rushed sections that can hinder the narrative momentum
- Uses techniques such as varying scene lengths, employing cliffhangers, and strategically revealing information to create a compelling and dynamic viewing experience
- involves structuring the story in a way that is easy to follow and emotionally satisfying for the audience
- Ensures that the screenplay has a clear beginning, middle, and end, with each act building upon the previous one and contributing to the overall story arc
- Uses transitions, parallels, and callbacks to create a sense of cohesion and unity throughout the narrative, allowing the audience to connect the various elements of the story into a meaningful whole
Key Terms to Review (21)
Action lines: Action lines are the descriptive elements in a screenplay that detail what is happening on screen, conveying the physical actions of characters and the environment. They serve to create visual imagery and establish the pacing of the story, helping to balance with dialogue and description to keep the narrative engaging. Crafting effective action lines is crucial for maintaining clarity and ensuring that the reader can visualize the story as it unfolds.
Character consistency: Character consistency refers to the ability of a character in a screenplay to maintain a coherent and believable set of traits, behaviors, and motivations throughout the narrative. This quality is essential for engaging the audience and creating a sense of authenticity, as viewers need to recognize and understand a character’s choices and actions based on their established personality. It plays a crucial role in character development and impacts how audiences connect emotionally with the story.
Character Development: Character development refers to the process of creating a believable and evolving character in a screenplay, showcasing their growth, motivations, and relationships throughout the story. This development is crucial as it impacts how audiences connect with the characters and enhances the narrative by providing depth and emotional stakes.
Continuity: Continuity refers to the consistent and logical flow of narrative elements, actions, and visuals in a screenplay or film. It ensures that scenes connect smoothly, maintaining a coherent story while avoiding jarring transitions or inconsistencies that can confuse the audience. This concept is essential not only for smooth transitions between scenes but also for keeping character motivations and plot points clear throughout the story.
Dialogue: Dialogue is the written conversation between characters in a screenplay, designed to convey their thoughts, emotions, and relationships. It serves to reveal character development, advance the plot, and create tension or humor through the interaction of characters.
Feedback: Feedback is information or responses provided to a creator regarding their work, often used to improve and refine the material. It plays a crucial role in the rewriting process by helping writers understand how their story resonates with others, while also guiding self-editing efforts to enhance clarity, structure, and emotional impact.
Formatting: Formatting refers to the specific way in which a screenplay is structured and presented on the page. This includes elements like margins, font type, and the arrangement of dialogue, action, and scene headings. Proper formatting is crucial in the rewriting process because it ensures that the screenplay adheres to industry standards, making it easier for readers and producers to engage with the material.
Industry standards: Industry standards are established guidelines or best practices that dictate the expected quality, format, and content for scripts within the film and television industry. These standards ensure consistency, professionalism, and ease of communication among writers, producers, and directors, making it easier to evaluate and develop screenplays during the rewriting process.
Initial drafting: Initial drafting is the process of creating the first version of a screenplay or script, where ideas are transformed into a structured narrative format. This stage involves translating concepts into dialogue, scene descriptions, and character actions, forming the foundation for future revisions and enhancements. It's a crucial step that captures the essence of the story before any refining or polishing takes place.
Iterative revision rounds: Iterative revision rounds refer to a systematic process where a script undergoes multiple rounds of revisions, each focused on improving specific elements based on feedback and reflection. This method allows writers to refine their work gradually, making targeted adjustments that enhance the overall quality of the script and address issues raised in previous drafts.
Line editing: Line editing is the process of reviewing and refining a screenplay at the sentence and paragraph level to enhance clarity, flow, and style. This stage focuses on improving dialogue, character voice, and pacing, ensuring that each line serves a purpose in the storytelling. Through line editing, writers can elevate their work by tightening language and eliminating unnecessary words or awkward phrasing.
Narrative arc: A narrative arc is the structured progression of a story, following a clear trajectory from beginning to end, which typically includes exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution. This framework allows for character development and emotional engagement, ultimately leading to a satisfying conclusion. A well-defined narrative arc helps screenwriters ensure that their story maintains focus and keeps the audience invested throughout the journey.
Narrative flow: Narrative flow refers to the seamless progression of events and ideas within a story, ensuring that the audience can easily follow the plot and remain engaged. It encompasses the pacing, transitions, and overall structure that guide the viewer through the narrative, making it essential for maintaining interest and clarity in storytelling.
Pacing: Pacing refers to the speed at which a story unfolds, influencing how the audience experiences the narrative. It involves the rhythm of action, dialogue, and description to create a balance that keeps viewers engaged and emotionally invested in the characters and plot.
Polishing: Polishing refers to the final stage of the writing process where a script is refined and enhanced to improve clarity, style, and overall quality. This involves carefully reviewing the screenplay for dialogue, pacing, character development, and emotional impact, ensuring that every element works harmoniously together to tell the intended story.
Revision process: The revision process is a crucial stage in writing that involves reviewing and making changes to a script to enhance its overall quality and effectiveness. This stage focuses on refining the narrative structure, character development, dialogue, and pacing to better align with the writer's vision and audience expectations. It often requires multiple drafts and feedback from peers or mentors to identify areas for improvement.
Rewrite goals: Rewrite goals are specific objectives that a writer aims to achieve during the rewriting process of a script. These goals help guide the writer in refining the screenplay, improving its structure, character development, dialogue, and overall narrative coherence. Establishing clear rewrite goals is essential for ensuring that the revisions made serve the story effectively and elevate the quality of the final draft.
Scene descriptions: Scene descriptions are vivid, detailed portrayals of the settings, actions, and atmosphere in a screenplay that help visualize the narrative for the audience. These descriptions set the tone and mood, influencing how viewers perceive the unfolding story, while also guiding actors and crew in their interpretation of the script. Balancing scene descriptions with action and dialogue is essential to maintain engagement and clarity throughout the screenplay.
Script coverage: Script coverage is a document that provides a summary and evaluation of a screenplay, often including a synopsis, character descriptions, and analysis of strengths and weaknesses. This feedback is crucial for writers and industry professionals during the rewriting process, as it helps identify areas that need improvement before finalizing the screenplay or presenting it for production. Script coverage also plays a role in determining how screenwriting software can assist in refining scripts through tools that streamline this evaluation.
Structural Editing: Structural editing is the process of critically assessing and reworking the overall structure of a screenplay to enhance its narrative coherence, pacing, and character development. This involves looking at the big picture, ensuring that scenes flow logically, the plot progresses effectively, and that character arcs are compelling and consistent throughout the story.
Tracking progress: Tracking progress refers to the ongoing process of evaluating and monitoring the development of a screenplay through its various drafts and revisions. This practice is essential in screenwriting as it allows writers to identify improvements, maintain continuity, and ensure that their story effectively evolves over time. By documenting changes and assessing their impact, writers can refine their work and make informed decisions during the rewriting process.