Rewriting, Redux
Friday, February 15, 2008 at 17:01 With the writer's strike now over, it's time to put some energy into marketing. In anticipation of this moment, my screenwriting group has been working on pitches. I pitched them my current script, a monster-in-the-house thriller. They hadn't read it, so I was happy when they responded enthusiastically to the pitch and asked all the right questions. I'm not a natural at pitching, and was very pleased.
Except...one of the writers made a comment that suddenly gave me this incredible idea for my script. With one tiny shift to my antagonist, the script would have more energy and drive. How cool! I couldn't wait to dive into the rewrite.
But instead of acting on that impulse right away, I took a minute to ask myself some tough questions. Was the rewrite necessary? Would my idea improve the script? Or was I deluding myself out of nervousness, tinkering with the script to avoid marketing? These are not small questions. I know from experience how fears can manifest and express themselves, how easy it is to make excuses for why you're not taking the next step. How easy it is, at least for me, to fall ill with the flu or have some other kind of crisis (such as "but it's not ready!") at a crucial moment.
But the truth was, the idea WAS good. It WOULD make a significant difference. I couldn't NOT do it.
I decided to do the rewrite, but to not let up on the marketing side. Now the rewrite is almost done, and I have gathered about a dozen prodcos to query.
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Reader Comments (2)
I think it's great that, instead of jumping right into the rewrite, you looked at your reasons for dong it, creating a pro and con list in your head. Good luck with the ProdCo list; I've found that the two best sources are the Hollywood Creative Directory and IMDb Pro.
Hi Rob,
Yep, HCD and IMDb Pro are my two main sources. I've now finished the rewrite, and I have to admit IT ROCKS! Doing it was the right decision.
--Alexis