The Rewrite Mentor Talks Screenwriting
People are often delusional about how serious the competition is out in Hollywood, especially writers. If it took Frank Darabont, an established screenwriter in his own right, 25 draftsto create the Academy Award nominated script to The Shawshank Redemption, what makes you think you can recreate the same success with one? Rewriting is an essential step a lot of impatient screenwriters forsake in their desperate need to get their work outthere. But if this is really the script that will make your career, don’t you owe it to yourself todo as many rewrites as it takes, ensuring the first impression of your script and writing talent is a good one?
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Yesterday, I hosted Paul Chitlik, The Rewrite Mentor on my show “Inside Urban Hollywood” to discuss the rewrite process. As an esteemed Hollywood writer who’s worked for all the major networks and studios, and a screenwriting teacher at UCLA and Loyola Marymount,he had a ton of valuable advice to share.
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Paul urged screenwriters to have a plan for their rewrite process. Sit down and read your script, critiquing a singular story element each pass, he suggested. On the first rewrite, you should focus on big story problems like structure and characters, asking yourself if your script hits all the story beats, if the character’s flaws are present in every scene, and if the characters change throughout the story. Each subsequent rewrite can tackle an even smaller story element such as supporting characters, scene work, action, dialogue, until you reachthe end of the road where all you have to fix is spelling and grammar.
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Paul also cited the character flaw as a common error screenwriters fail to show, especially those who skip the rewrite process. He argued that the first five pages of a script are crucial for making the character’s flaw clear and showing that character’s personality.
People in Hollywood definitely look for that. ….If you look at any movie, you’ll see something in the first five minutes that shows what the character is fighting against in himself and what is it about the character that makes him or her likable to other people.
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To hear Paul discuss the rewrite process, common mistakes screenwriters make, how to self-edit your script, and to learn Paul’s seven points of screenplay structure, listen to the show by clicking the link below.
