That Feeling

There's a few scripts that I'm working on but the one I talk about most here is a screenplay that I've been working on for most of the summer. Maybe I should give it a fictional name to distinguish... maybe another time.

Anyway, for the last month it's been sitting around taking up memory, untouched, because I knew changes needed to be made. I outlined them and things still felt wrong. I was looking to change what happens in my scenes but I wasn't opening myself up to a major rewrite that meant scrapping a good twenty pages.

You see, when I write, I've so heavily outlined that I make most of my story/plot changes before I ever get to final draft. I toy with the characters and story. Write down dialogue. Change plot points. Change characters. By the time I get to actually writing the script, it's really just a matter of getting it all into Final Draft.

That said, I think this is the most substantial rewrite I've ever done. I ripped apart the scenes and looked at what I wanted from my ending at a very base level. If you read back through my blog, you'll find that I just wanted more. I wanted the resolution to be a bit more dramatic and less snap your fingers and it's done. Less 'I love you, you love me, we're a happy family'.

So, I left the confines of what I'd written and deleted the last twenty pages and changed what gets them to the end. In the original draft, one of the characters realizes that he's a dork and does a BIG EVENT to make up for it, but there's no talk on why he was a dork. We never really find out. Plus, the BIG EVENT was a little cheesy and I didn't really like it when it came down to it. So, I brought the story down to earth and added some defining moments where he realizes what he's done wrong. I also added an apology which hadn't been in the first draft. (I know -- how could I miss that?)

So, now I have that feeling where I know I made the right decision. I love that feeling.