So I finished my first screenplay. The first draft anyway, though I doubt I'll bother polishing this one. I guess I got what I wanted out of it--a good learning experience. No, that's not true. I wanted something I could polish and see if Hollywood wanted it, though I guess the learning experience is good, too.
I have a problem with underplotting. I've done so on the novel I'm working on (though I believe I'll be able to fix that in my second draft), and I did it in my screenplay. Feature screenplays run between 90 and 120 pages. Mine clocked in at a whopping 23. Not fixable in a second draft without huge plotting fixes. Personally, I think I'd prefer to move onto something else instead of working this one to death. Oh well, as I said, I learned quite a bit, so it's not a total loss.
I think I pretty much knew going in that I didn't have enough story. Add to that I didn't work very hard on the characters, and I was doomed from the start. I feel like I did enough right, however, that I will try again. I enjoyed the process, and once I got used to the structure and the extreme show-don't tell rule, I did all right. The pre-writing had me down from the beginning, though. Now I know a bit more, so my next attempt should be better. I hope, anyway.
That's it for now. Until next time, keep reading and/or writing.
