I feel qualified to write about this topic, because getting
caught in a rewrite loop is my Achilles heel. I will hang onto a screenplay until it’s wrenched from my
bloody fingers. If anyone gives me
a note, I feel compelled to implement it.
They must know better than me, right?
Here are five signs you need to let that old chestnut rest,
and write something new.
1) Every time you try to work on it you feel
like throwing up. And not from
excitement.
You have dragged this old nag around
the ring several times, restructured, changed characters, and it’s still not
working. You dread opening up the
file. The words are so familiar
that you can’t even read them anymore—they just swim before your eyes. Yet you keep changing it and changing
it and…
Yes, changing it some more. This feeling of nausea is not the kind you
get when you are trying something new, or stepping out of your comfort
zone. No, this is the sick feeling
of repetition, running in place, wasting time.
Close the file, think about what
you’ve learned from this project and move on. It hasn’t been a waste of time, but a learning opportunity. What pearls of wisdom can you take with
you to your next script?
2) You’ve sent it out to everyone you (and
your agent) can think of and nothing’s happened.
Still, you believe if you just made
a few changes, they’d respond differently. Like actually call you back. Silence is a very big piece of feedback. Even if you get someone on the phone
and they tell you WHY they passed, their reason will probably not be the whole
truth. They want to stay friends with you so when you write your next project
(the one that actually works!) you will sell it to them.
Don’t chase people. It’s a waste of time. Unless someone gives you a reason that
really seems true, and they say they’d be interested if specific changes were
made, it’s probably not worth your time. Most likely, they would have bought the script the first time
around if they were truly interested.
3) You insist on rewriting it over and over
because it’s not “perfect.”
Guess what. It never will be. You’re clinging because you’re afraid of
sending it out, of being rejected, or of admitting you’ve “wasted” time. All
this fear is a form of resistance.
This is my personal favorite.
I keep thinking the more I work on the project, the better the script will
be. Not true. I now believe there is a threshold of
“awesomeness” that every script has.
Once you reach this peak, most of the changes you are making on your own
are probably lateral moves. It’s still the same basic story, with the same
protagonist and themes. If you
completely reboot something, that’s different. But tweaking here and there will not substantially change the
marketability of the project.
Leonardo Da Vinci said, “Art is
never finished, only abandoned.”
You could conceivably dress up this orange pony until the cows come
home.
It’ll still be an orange pony.
4) You’ve been working on it to the exclusion
of all other projects for more than two years.
Working on a script for more than two years is not unusual. However, if you've been working
on this script for two years, and have not been developing any other ideas, it might be time to let that script go. If you think it’s good, send it out-- to a contest, agents, producers. If it’s bad, put it in a drawer and chalk it up as a
learning experience. While you're rewriting, you should always be
working on your next project. Outlining/pitching/researching
etc. You need to have more than
one ball in the air… Otherwise it’s very difficult to forge a career that
lasts. Most professional screenwriters have a ton of abandoned projects. It’s just part of the creative
process. Again, what
wisdom have you gained from this script? What fatal disease infected your horse, and how can you avoid this
malady in the future?
Sorry, but I’m loving belaboring
the horse metaphor.
5) Your script doesn’t have a strong enough hook.
And deep down, you know it
never will.
This is probably the single most
common reason people should give up on a screenplay. There is no central conceit or conflict or character that holds
our attention. And no matter how
much you pussyfoot around this fact, it’ll never change. The central nugget of the story is just
not compelling or original enough.
Some ideas are good, and some are
bad. Most fantastic writers have
worked on dog projects. Not
everything is a chunk of gold, some are made of coal and worse. Be proud of yourself for trying this
idea and learning something about what makes a good movie.
Once you’ve slaved and slaved over
a bad idea, you pay a lot more attention to the “concept” of your next one. This
is probably the single most important part of the creative process. Does the idea have enough juice, enough
humanity, enough genuinely engaging conflict and originality to pull a viewer
in?
If it’s a generic idea, it’ll be a
generic script.
In conclusion, veterinary students, abandoning a project is
not failing. It’s just part of the
creative process. Not every idea
will work. One of the reasons
Pixar is so successful is that they are not afraid to face the music and reboot
or bail on a project when necessary.
Work hard on each script. Work smart.
Know when you’ve got something and when you don’t, no matter how hard
you’re trying.
Most importantly, trust your INSTINCTS.
We all know when our horses are dead. It’s just really hard to bury them.
