Holiday Wars

The goal of Script Frenzy is to finish a 100 page draft of a screenplay in 30 days. What I’ve managed to do is the rough-rough draft of “Holiday Wars: Volume 2.” It’s 138 pages and I managed to get that much written in 23 days!

I’ve never done Script Frenzy before and I had a fun time doing it. It was nice to have that extra pressure saying “You need to hurry up and write Volume 2!” Here is a timeline showing the writing process (click to enlarge):

As you can see, I took some time on Act I. Luckily I was writing a sequel so I didn’t need to spend a lot of time getting to know the characters or figuring out their voices. So it was pretty much just an issue of hitting plot points and character points.

Where I really hit my first problem was on day 7. I started writing Act II focusing on the main cast and quickly realized all my plans for the supporting cast weren’t good enough. That’s why I took six days off. I spent that time making new outlines, fully fleshing out the supporting cast, and making sure that the supporting cast thematically fit into what was going on with the main cast.

Act II is always the hardest to write and when re-writing it’s where most of the re-writing is done. That’s why I didn’t mind taking the time to stop and plan. On the same note, I was crazy happy when I finished it. Don’t believe me? Look at Act III! I wrote that sucker in three days. That’s 37 pages in three days!

Act III was nice because by that point everything had already been set-up, so in a way I could sit back and enjoy the ride. What’s really crazy is that I had plans and tons of plans for something to happen in Act III only those original plans never took into consideration the new supporting cast members I created in Act II. As a result it was like grenades in a hand-basket. The whole cast was together in one place and it turned into total chaos (the good kind of chaos) resulting the script to go in a direction I hadn’t planned.

Although I’ve finished Script Frenzy, I’m no where near done writing Volume 2. On the plus side, the rough-rough draft is what I hate doing the most. Everything from now on is re-writing and it may sound odd, but I enjoy re-writing.

What happens next is that I will take 3-5 days to plan and restructure Volume 2. I’ll look at the plot and see what still needs to be explained or what needs to be cut. Then I’ll look at the character arcs of the main cast as well as the supporting cast and I’ll figure out what needs to happen to strengthen them.  From there I will make a new outline and I’ll jump in re-writing the script from start to finish. When done I’ll call that my “rough draft.”

Once I get the “rough draft” done I’ll do the same thing again. I’ll figure out what is missing and what needs to be cut. I’ll also go back and make sure that every scene either serves the plot or the characters. I’ll also double check and make sure there is some form of conflict in every scene.  After that I’ll do another re-write and I’ll call that draft my “First Draft.” The first draft is then sent off to my editors and then usual people who read the stuff I write. I’ll get their notes back and I’ll just keep re-writing till everyone feels the story is the best it can be.

Then the script will go to the penciler, inker, & colorist and Volume 2 will debut almost a year from now!