[As reported by David Beedon March 6, 1997]

How can I tell someone how to rewrite a screenplay? I'm no expert. I can only tell you how I'm rewriting my screenplay.

To start, you can't rewrite until you've written a screenplay. Sounds obvious, but how you write the first draft plays on the rewrite.

Other screenplays I've written took
f o r e v e r. I worked out every detail, every line of dialogue. Often I've worked with a partner, so there was someone to bounce ideas off and clear up potential problems. A screenplay such as that would be a different beast than the one I have now.

The story I'm working on now evolved from a dream I had two years ago. It was just a scene, a beginning. With a little thought, I had an end. Great, two points an eternity apart and no bridge. It stayed that way for nearly two years. I'd give it some thought every now and again, but largely there was no crossing the divide. I gave up. I worked on other ideas, none of which could fulfill Motion City's need for a small, low budget story.

Then one day I awoke with the bridge. It meant changing the dream slightly to accommodate, but the bridge existed. What amazed me most was the fact that the bridge was so realized. I saw the cables, cross members, legs, everything. It actually scared me. This story was too complete. I had never before had such a fully realized story pop into my head. I told Jerry immediately about it to confirm I hadn't seen this on cable or somewhere and unconsciously convinced myself it was original. (I had an idea he once attributed to too much "Scooby Doo", he's certainly the best place to start)

But there it was. Not as though it stood in the realm of "absolutely original", as if there is such a place. But it stood on it's merit. Jerry was as excited as I.

The process began. My job took it's toll and pushed writing into slim patches of time, but all told, counting the time spent writing, I wrote the script in under sixty days. By far the fastest I've ever written. I know, John Hughes, Paul Schrader and a host of others have me beat, yeah, yeah, yeah. But seriously, what does this mean for my story?

Simply, it meant I didn't give a wit's ass about dialogue, exposition or descriptions. I screamed through scenes like I was watching 'em, not telling 'em. That was the point. I wanted to know if the "story" I was telling stood up. Did the trajectory deviate? Did this thing make sense? I'm not saying I kept characters tongues stuck in their teeth, but I didn't burden myself with making dialogue sing. I didn't plant you in the room with the characters. So, rewriting this screenplay is substantially different than others for me.

To start, even in it's current form, I let others take a look. How else could I know I had something and not just hit the sauce a little too fervently?

When your friends read your script and have comments, take notes, better, take their notes. Watch how these people talk to you. They're your trusted friends. They'll avoid telling you you're an idiot outright, but their bodies may belie that. If there is a scene or section that's not working they may not know how to vocalize it, but their bodies/dialogue may speak volumes. "Well, this scene kinda... I don't know, you know when she says, what does she say? You know, well", squirm, squirm. THE SCENE F*****G SUCKS!!! You know they were looking for glitter in the acoustical ceiling at this point, you lost 'em! Not a problem, it's a first draft. If you, the writer, brought your ego here you're an idiot. But... be on the lookout for the occasional gem, the "Wouldn't it be cool if...".

Collect the notes, your impressions, the, "Oh, and I think it'd play better from a woman's point of view" and put them aside. (I'm talking like I'm Anthony Robbins here. Sorry, this is still what I'm doing, didn't mean to order.)

I reread the story. Was it what I thought it was supposed to be? Did it play the way I wanted? I know there are problems, are they bigger than I imagined? I wrote my thoughts as I read, stroking my ego as I went along. (I left it behind for the notes from friends, but the walls have ears let me tell you!)

Once I read it, I walked away. I've done it. I've written it, I've listened to others, I've reread it. Walk away.

I once heard of a director that, after principal photography, goes to the Bahamas for a month. He "walks away". The editor cuts the show. When the director returns he's ready to deal with the project again, fresh. True or not, I can't argue with the philosophy.

Besides, this whole story started from me "walking away". I (as you probably) never really leave a story half finished, look at Lucas. In the back of your brain, you're working. Sure, in the foreground, you're slaving away on other things, but in the distance, a synapse or two won't let go. Thanks to those little synapses.

Now I start up again. Reread the notes, remember. What, if any, are the common links between critiques? Ten people read your script, ten people tell you something sucks, it sucks. What's my critique? Write it down. There are valid points everywhere, which do I take? There are stupid (no insult to my readers, I just seriously disagree) ideas/comments. But are these the ideas/comments that middle America may want? Do I want to cater to middle America? Did we ever make it to the moon, or was it a sham?! Okay, too many questions. Just calm down. The point here is it's back on me/you. To rewrite you've got to sort through everything and evaluate it. For me, with this story, I think dialogue suffered the most. Often, I am most proud of my dialogue. Not so in this instance. Will new dialogue spice it up and cover problems? Don't count on it.

The reality is I've got to bear down and work it through. People have been generous enough to share their thoughts. They're eager to see what impact they've made on the next draft, better, worse? It's on me. I can't let them down anymore than I can let myself down. The process of making a feature film has begun. Yeah, it's the beginning, but if the beginning of the race determines the outcome I can't let anyone down. So, I need to keep things from getting in the way. It's tough. Work keeps jumping up and claiming stake to my life, but I can't let it. My girlfriend longs for more time together, but not now, not in the middle of such an important event, "I can't let anything stop me, procrastination is THE ENEMY!" Anything that I realize is a means to keep me from rewriting must be sto