The First Draft

What can a writer, even an experienced one expect from a first draft? Well, not a lot. But putting things into perspective, completing a draft is a huge accomplishment. The Wave-inatrix has probably said before that “writing IS rewriting”. So the bottom line is that after that very first, snowy-white draft is done, it’s really only just begun to live.

For more experienced writers having just finished a first draft:
• Don’t worry about the page count. It’s not important now.
• Put the script away; reread in a few weeks.
• Get some reads from a handful of respected peers.
• Organize your notes by element and make a rewrite plan.

Newer writers, particularly if this is your first or even second script should follow about the same steps except that rather than a handful of respected peers (because you are newer, you may not have developed a good reading network just yet) choose one person you really trust. Get their knee-jerk reaction. Try to get them to break their thoughts down by element:

Main Idea (premise): Did it seem original or remind them too much of another movie. Did they “get it”?

Character: Was your reader able to identify the main character? Did they relate to this character? Did they see this character change over the course of the story?

Antagonist: Was your reader able to identify the antagonist? Can they articulate the antagonist’s motivation after having read the script? Was the antagonist formidable and interesting enough? Did they truly think the main character might not be able to face this antagonist down?

Pacing and narrative: Did the script move along at a steady pace or did the pages feel very descriptive with not much going on? Did the story continue to spool out at a steady rate? Did the reader get bored or lost?

Was the set up effective?: Did the reader understand, early in the script, what the over-arching conflict was?

Was the resolution satisfying?: Did the reader feel that the ending made sense and that there was closure and change for the main character? Did the ending satisfy?

These are the very basic things you want to know.

Writers need to be very forgiving of a first draft. Here’s a little truism: all first drafts are terrible to some degree. The more you write the less terrible a first draft is but honestly – they’re not usually very good. That’s okay, this is the process. Don’t judge yourself too harshly and don’t let others do that either.

Give it some air, make a rewrite plan and know that the next draft will surely be better.

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