DEADLINES

After blogging last week about how to write a screenplay in six weeks, I received a few expressions of concern from new writers via social media, who were worried that I was putting undue pressure on them and weakening the quality of their work by setting unrealistic time delivery expectations.

Let me be very frank with you, writing screenplays is a very competitive industry, one where a writer is asked to deliver quality work to tight deadlines. This is not said to be mean or to put anyone off, it is a fact that has and always will be the case. A writer who can deliver when asked is always sought after by producers even if the quality might sometimes suffer slightly. A writer who struggles to deliver will often be dropped from a project and replaced at short notice to ensure the deadline is met. It's not cruel, unrealistic or overly demanding to do this, it's simply a reality of the industry we work in.

A company can't halt or postpone a production because the writer isn't able to deliver what is required of them in the time set. The TV show or feature is bigger than the sum of its parts and at the end of the day, decisions are ruled by money. In an ideal world, a writer would have all the time they require to write and polish their labour of love - indeed a new writer working on a spec does indeed have this luxury - but the reality is that in the professional world, they don't.

I've known writers to be replaced on TV shows because they've struggled to deliver a script on time. I've known writers who have gone in and replaced a writer under these circumstances, it's not ideal but it's a necessity to ensure the project is delivered on time and in budget. Every professional understands this. If, as a new writer you can't accept this, your career won't progress very far. To put it as plainly as I can; if you can't deliver there will always be ten writers waiting behind you who can, so why would a producer spend time on you when they can easily bring in another writer to do what they require?

I've also been in the position where I've been brought in to replace an existing writer because the writer was struggling to produce what was expected of him. It was an awkward experience but I got my head down and delivered what was asked of me to the delight of the producer.

If you're a new writer and are worried about deadlines, set your own. When I started out I would ask working writers how long they took to write different lengths of screenplays. I then took the average for each and forced myself to write to these self-imposed deadlines. I didn't need to, no one would have known any different if I hadn't, but I did it because I wanted to prove I could do it and because I wanted to improve as a writer to make sure that when I was offered my first commission I would be confident of delivering. Why not try it for yourself, what have you got to lose?

Happy writing!

THE SIX WEEK FEATURE

I was chatting with a director friend of mine about an idea for a feature project we have been passing back and forth for a while now when he uttered those dreaded words which strike fear into the heart of any writer, "Do you reckon you could write it up as a spec script in six weeks?" Before you start hyperventilating, let me rewind a little...

A few years ago I wrote a cracking thriller for him which unfortunately never managed to get off the ground. Since then it's been kicking around, going back and forth between us, morphing and evolving through various ideas, forms and genres, eventually ending up as a re-envisioned revenge thriller in the form of a one-page feature pitch. The director's first feature is due for release later this year and he has also recently signed with a US management company, so he's very keen to get other projects moving forward at a pace to make the most of this momentum.

He said to me, "I really like the new beginning of this pitch. You know, the part you came up with last time to give it more of a youth-orientated Cape Fear feel. You remember, their backstory..? I think it has legs as a feature in its own right... but can we set in the US? What do you think?" I have to be honest, I could see exactly what he was saying as I had seen the very same potential in those backstory scenes when I wrote them in January.

Usually, when someone asks me to write a feature screenplay for them on spec I laugh in their face and remind them that I too have bills to pay. However, on this occasion, I didn't mind. Firstly we're friends and secondly, I have a new feature adaptation commission I'm reading and prepping for over the next six weeks during which time I was planning to bash out one of my own spec feature scripts which I've already planned out. It doesn't really matter if I write this new idea first rather than my own as either way, I'll have a finished spec to send out if nothing develops with the director.

I can't remember the last time I wrote a feature from a concept a paragraph long to completed screenplay in just six weeks. Not only does the story idea excite me but so does the challenge of writing something so big in such a short space of time. I've had a couple of features with pre-agreed deadlines since I last accomplished this feat but none with such a tight turnaround, in fact, their timeframes were practically pedestrian in comparison to what the director has just suggested.

So how do you write a screenplay in just six weeks?

I usually aim to write five pages of script a day, five days a week, Monday to Friday, rewriting the previous five pages in the morning before going on to write the new pages in the afternoon. That means I can complete a one hundred page screenplay in four weeks, leaving me two weeks to get any research done and plan out the beats to my story.

But why only five pages a day? That's just the average needed to get the thing done. Some days I might write less and others I'll write more. If I write less one day I'll aim to catch up the next day, but if I write more on one day then that's a bonus and will put me ahead of schedule.

So, six weeks to write a feature from scratch. Challenge set! Bring it!

Happy writing!