#Rewriting again, so here's some thoughts from today. After two drafts of an ambitious story, I had a lot of character and world building, but the A/B stories were muddy & meandering. My clarity ?s:
What is the premise of the series? Or, can I explain the idea of the series?
What is the premise of the series? Or, can I explain the idea of the series?
What is the pilot story? Or, what happens in the 1st episode?
This is different than:
What is the set-up of the pilot? Or, what starts the hero on their journey and why are they the perfect character to follow in this story?
This is different than:
What is the set-up of the pilot? Or, what starts the hero on their journey and why are they the perfect character to follow in this story?
What happens week to week? Or, how can I show through the pilot what can be expected to repeat, grow or become added trouble in the next episodes?
Who is the hero? What is the arc we might expect them to travel in the pilot? In the season? In the series?
Who is the hero? What is the arc we might expect them to travel in the pilot? In the season? In the series?
That will likely lead you to some themes. Is it frustrating not to have honed the A story and the character arc on the first draft? YES. Ugh. Duh. BUT! Sometimes that happens. In fact, I've read the first 10 pp of a lot of developing scripts recently, & I think this happens A LOT
Improvising simple & clear answers to these questions helps me hone my story. Sometimes I will write similar, but different answers that come to me and then choose the one Im most excited about/works best.
Once I'm seeing more clarity, I'll refer to shows and films to see how they approach similar genre or story structure. Then I see how that might apply to my story and this generates new storylines and new moments.
Even on a 3rd draft I have wildly reimagined and improved the efficiency of my story with a) more research & b) the above clarity. Is your pilot script structurally tight? Is is the right character in the right place w the right attitude to start their arc?
Does the story start as late as possible for the character? While also starting the pilot story ASAP? While world building?
Clarify what you're dramatizing in the rewrite. Strip away unnecessary scenes that are largely color, cool character moments, but lack story. Rebreak the A story and re-use that color in beats that actually get the story going.
Reveal character (whose status quo is about to be challenged) as early as possible. Clarify the answers to the above questions, pilot will be clearer. FIN
