Monday, February 20, 2012

Nothing to Do But Wait

This is the hardest part. Now that the script is done, I know I have to wait around two weeks before returning to it. I've read multiple screenwriting books that heavily suggest to take a break from the script. Their argument, and it's a good one, is that the time off gives you a chance to forget details from the script as well as become less consumed with it, allowing you to see the film as a whole as well as approach the script from a new perspective. The time off gives the writer a chance to be more objective about the script he wrote.

The problem is, I'm so excited to keep working on the script, to get a second draft finished, that this waiting around is driving me crazy. I keep picking up the script that I printed out, tempted to start revising through it, then I force myself to set it down and not open it up.

In the meantime, there are a number of things I can still do that are semi-related. For instance, and maybe most importantly, I still do not have a title for this movie. And that's a problem. Titles are the hardest thing for me to come up with, and I struggle time and again to come up with a good enough title. And usually, I fail (I mean, come one, "The Test," and "Dumb Luck" are not exactly brilliant titles). I've been writing down words associated with the script that may be incorporated into a title, but as of now nothing has jumped out at me.

Other than the title, there are only a few small things that I could work on, so again, this is tough. Another temptation of mine is to hand the script out to everyone I know so that they can read it and give me feedback for revision. The problem here is that this is still my first draft, and I know that it is not as good as it can be. Maybe the first draft isn't ready for people to read yet. I don't know, I keep going back and forth on this one.

According to the timetable, this means that I won't be starting on the second draft until I come back to school after Spring Break next week. This seems like a ways away to me, and we'll see if I can go that long...