When is it Done?

Saturday 5/30/09 time 1:27 AM

This is the time of year that people start asking me, "how do I know when my script is done?" They've put in the time; diligently developed outlines and finished a first draft; heeded or ignored notes in a second draft; and shined the apple to a high-gloss in the polish. The script is in pretty darn good shape. It's done, right? 

For many the answer is "yes". Some of these writers have a script with such a great concept that Hollywood will salivate. These scripts need to be well-written but they don't need to be James Joyce. It would be a mistake to spend the next 35 years of your life working and re-working POLICE ACADEMY. Hollywood rewrites these scripts to death. If they like it, they'll buy the idea. That said, make sure it's really good.

The other script that's "done" already is the script that never really got off the ground in the first place. I'm the patron saint of lost-cause scripts, so its hard for me to say this, but trust me: if you never were able to find out the issue driving your hero, or if couldn't figure out the ending, or if people doze off whenever you tell them the plot...it's time to put that sucker in the drawer for a while...maybe longer. 

The script that isn't done is the script that's not high-concept, but you know has promise. The courtroom drama that rings true, has a wonderful lead that any actor would kill to play, that has twists and surprises. That one? Keep working. Because they pile courtroom drama scripts up like cord wood in Hollywood. Yours needs to SHINE brighter than all the others. The writing has got to blow them away. Every last detail. Don't spend 35 years. But don't hurry it out there. 

When is it done? When you can watch someone read it and laugh. Read it and weep. Read it and sink so into it, that they forget your watching them read it. If nobody will let you watch them read your script, then you'll have to read it yourself. Laugh? Weep? Sink? Then you're done.