Photo by Jed Villejo. jedvillejo.squarespace.com
Written by Martie Cook
You’ve finished the first draft of your television pilot. And you’re feeling pretty good. Chances are you can’t wait to get those pages off of your computer and into the hands of someone who can take the work from script to screen. A word of caution: Before you send your script to anyone, you want to make sure it’s as good as it can possibly be. The truth is perfection is rarely (if ever) achieved in a first draft. Most professional writers will tell you that a big part of writing is rewriting. With this in mind, it’s time to roll up your sleeves and do another pass. Here are some things to consider as you start your second draft.
1. Spend Lots of Time on Character Relationships
This is the main reason viewers watch. So, don’t just write a bunch of quirky characters. Make sure you’re crystal clear on how each character feels about all of the other characters. What binds them together? What tears them apart? What flaws does each character have, and how do those flaws affect the other characters?
2. Too Many Characters Can be Problematic
It’s better to have a script with six well-defined characters than a script with fifteen characters who are less defined and therefore blend together. If your pilot has a lot of characters, see if you can chop a few or maybe even combine some of them.
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