Getting the second draft done has been quite a challenge. At the time of Coops setting me the deadline of the 8th September I was doing 2 jobs at work. I thought this would last a month or so but in fact it turned into 3 months, and everyday I was coming home shattered. Add to this prepping for job interviews and other things cropping up, time was really an issue with this draft. But I did it.
I’ve blogged along the way about different things that proved interesting to deal with. Firstly, I reduced the number of main characters from 6 to 4, and changing one of the original 6 into a secondary character.
In the first draft there was barely any backstory and furthermore only a fleeting mention of the whole premise of the film. With the second draft the back story takes about 20 minutes of the film; 10 minutes a piece for each pair of friends. Is this too much backstory?
There was also one plot point which I think is viable but I won’t know until I’ve had another opinion as to whether it is. If it isn’t, then I’m going to have to rethink one of the key plot parts of the Ed and Jen narrative.
I rewrote the ending completely, as the first draft focused on the one of the couples that are no longer in the piece. What I wrote instead was 3 sets of outcomes for the different characters. I’m hoping they aren’t too convenient as that was the main feedback of the original ending. I like to feel that I’ve created a sense of closure but also a sense that life goes on for these characters and the ending gives the audience the opportunity to figure out how life will pan out for the characters.
With the rewriting process I thought it would be tough to edit bits out as you grow attached to your screenplay because you’ve worked on it so much. But throughout the process it was getting easier to cut bits out and move things around.
One issue that has lingered since finishing the 2nd draft is timing. I feel this could be improved or at least the passing of time displayed better. From the offset it looks like at times things happened in a rush, some scenes which should be shown over a period of weeks might be interpreted as a period of days. Switching between the two sets of narratives also proved challenging as I liked having a third strand originally to make every narrative have an equal amount of screen time.
So what now? Well I’m going to let this screenplay rest for a bit until Coops and my friend Lizi have read it. I’ve got a short film screenplay competition and another TV show that I’d like to write as well. Both of which I want to write by the end of the year; so I better get my writing skates on!
