Finished It's Finished

The script for Beaudry is done. Or rather, the script for Beaudry 7.0 is done. And believe me, there will be a Beaudry 7.1, and probably a 7.2, etc., before I can start sending it out to agents. Because, as George Lucas wisely noted, "Films aren't released, they escape," and the same is true of a screenplay--given my druthers, I could tinker with this thing for years to come. But at a certain point it will start screaming at me to send it out into the world, and I will do so.

I already know there are some structural problems. The midpoint of the script is on page 60, but the script in toto is only 104 pages. What that reflects is probably my stage background: your first act will almost always be longer than your second act. Build to a peak, send the audience out to get liquored up, and then drive drive drive toward the conclusion. The Beaudry script perfectly reflects that kind of thinking (except that the audience won't be sent out for intermission): once a certain turning point is reached, everything starts to move very fast indeed.

Which works for me, but the trick comes in remembering that the thing first has to be sold, and there are, beyond question, lots and lots of readers in town whose first response to any new script is to open it to page 12, then page 24 or 25, then to page 55, and so forth. They want to see big events happening on those pages; they want the assurance that the script conforms to the standard structure and is, therefore, professional enough to merit their time. If I fail to meet that test, it is not just possible but likely that no matter whatever the other merits of the script, it will get tossed away.

So there's work still to be done. But considering that this version 7.0 represented probably a 75% rewrite, there came a point when I just needed to let the story find its groove and thrash itself out. I wrote over twenty pages in the last two days--more than 4,000 words. Most of that came very fast--I had earlier sketched out what would happen, from scene to scene, and then it was a matter of just sinking into it and letting it happen. I like what I've got, quite a bit, but I've said that before with prior versions of this script. (Particularly version 6.0, the one that got a 75% rewrite.)

So the trick now is to just let it sit for a few days, then read the whole thing and see if any structural solutions offer themselves. Then I have people read it, particularly some wise friends who have read previous drafts, and hear what they have to say, and make those changes. After that? Maybe get a bunch of actors together for a formal reading, some more changes, and then--then, it will be time to start sending to agents.

Should only be a matter of a couple more months, then, before I can do that. My goal this year, of getting an agent and selling a script, is reasonably on track. A fine day for me, then, to happily and proudly proclaim that it's finished.

Now, on to the next.