Major surgery

As I said in my last post, I've attacked my first draft of 'Good Guys' with my script notes and a red pen (actually it's technically a second draft, as number one was that Dukes of Hazzard type thing).

The number of scenes I've dropped, which while frightening, is probably a good thing as I need to merge the first two acts into one. I've taken out a plot line that introduced some tension between the main characters, and that took up the lion's share of the cut scenes. Doing so involves dropping a love interest thing that one of the main characters has. I was tempted to leave the love interest in, but I don't want one simply for the sake of it. Too many scripts do that.

While the beats of the story remain the same, this new draft is going to be a major one that probably will touch 75% of the scenes (if not more). When I think of it like that, the rewrite is a little daunting. I'm tempted to set a deadline, but with moving house I don't think that's a good idea. I'm probably just going to say that by next Wednesday, I'll want to have gone over the current draft a second time, and at least wrote a detailed outline of the new draft. I think the new outline is a must and I have to resist the urge to dive in and hack up the current draft without a detailed plan. If I just dive in, I may do more damage than good.

Onward! To the next draft!

Oh, by the way, if you write a script with Final Draft, does that mean you don’t need to do rewrites? :)