I just finished another draft of my latest script, MAID OF DISHONOR. While awaiting valuable feedback from my stellar writing group (Bryan, Betty, Leilani, and Pat), I have time to reflect on what it took to get to this point. I’m a polish away from shopping this baby, I hope.
2007:
October – Started with a loose logline about two stoner girls looking for weed for 420. Took it to Blake Snyder’s 15 Beat Workshop, left the weekend with solid 15 beats, a pitch, a title (BRIDESMAIDS) and a wedding movie.
November – Wrote five pages at 3AM for Michael Hauge workshop. He ripped it apart. Also submitted 40 Beats to my Save The Cat Writing Group.
December – Wrote 40 new Beats, then CHANGED THE MAIN CHARACTER from my Bridezilla to her stoner sister. Go back to start. Do not pass go.
2008:
January – Came up with another script idea while working on writing the current script from the stoner’s perspective.
February – Finished new 40 Beats. Sent out for review to writing group.
March – Wrote first 10 pages, submitted to writing group. Pitched it to Village Roadshow and Misher Films.
May – Entertained changing the name from Bridesmaids. Kept it as working title. Sent out my first 20 pp to writing group. Sequestered myself at Betty’s Cabin, rewrote the first 20 pp and got to page 67 in a week. Called Betty everyday to discuss story ideas until she, Laura, Danny, and Leilani showed up.
Went from five bridesmaids to three. Made life easier. Less secondary characters to manage/arc/setup/payoff, etc.
June – Got to page 81, then finished 1st draft. Sent out to writing group for feedback.
July – Sent out another draft to writing group for feedback. Thought about casting main characters.
Sent script to Pilar Alessandra for consultation. Got excellent feedback. Tossed out entire subplot (which was accidentally similar to the Wackness. Created a whole new love interest tying the A and B plots together)
[Further developed a different TV idea.]
August – Visited LA.
September – Scheduled another consultation for November/December. Sent current draft to writing group.
October – More notes from writing group.
November – Changed title from Bridesmaids to Maid of Dishonor due to another movie in production of the same name.
December – Pilar Alessandra consultation #2. She said I’m close. Just need to polish it up.
[Submitted TV idea to Disney]
2009:
January – Reordered several major scenes, fixed continuity issues, punched up dialogue, added love interest at midpoint, and finished another draft. Up to 10 major drafts of Maid of Dishonor. That’s after 6+ of Bridesmaids.
February – Visit LA.
On the surface, it took 15 months to go from the idea to the current draft (which I feel very good about), but in that time I developed several other ideas, changed my protagonist, replaced my entire B Subplot, cut characters completely, and drastically reordered scenes. That’s a ton of work, but in the end the script can finally stand up on its own. During that time we also moved, had different jobs, freelanced, and traveled to Stockholm, Austin, LA, and several other places. So between LIFE, OTHER IDEAS, JOBS, and of course THE GUILD, I got to a draft I love.
What do we learn?
Be patient with ourselves. Step away from drafts to gain objectivity, learn which notes to ignore and which to address, make sure you have trusted readers who can give you detailed and honest feedback, and work on other stuff so you don’t go freaking mad when story problems are keeping you up at night on your main project.
That’s a great timeline, and actually quite a good bit of information for a novice. I actually learned something from it. Thanks
Very cool. Always good to hear about the “actual” time required to get a script up to a marketable standard. I heard it took 12 years off and on for the Thank You for Smoking script adaptation…I’m five months into my first script so I guess I’ll need to be patient.
Hey Thanks for sharing, and I thought I was taking long to write script. It is a difficult task and reading what you’ve gone through helps me realize the importance of persistence.
Sxean