Fastest you've ever written a script?

dougspice

dougspice

Veteran
On a dare, I've just completed an 85-page script in 8 days. It's actually a lot more solid than I ever would have expected.

I've written as much as 35 pages in a day before, but that usually ends up being a mistake, and part of a screenplay that I never complete.

What's your best streak?
 
Four days is the fastest...112 page script. That is a little deceiving though, since the prep work prior to the actual writing took a lot longer...

I've developed a "bullet" system that works well for me. Basically, I lay the whole screenplay out in the form of bullets and then use that as my road map for the screenplay itself. It doesn't usually take too long to get a first draft done after that, though I sometimes have to force myself to stop writing when I get on a roll.

I think you've got to count your "prep" time or the time you spend outlining or bulleting as part of your writing time because it is part of the creative process.
 
Yeah, I was counting the prep time as well. We had nothing but a title to start with, and in fact at this point we've thrown out everything but character names that we did on the first day.
 
Three hours for a script that ends up being 30 min long on film. Then I went and film it the next week. The result was horrible :(, of course, but that was a good lesson in how not to do a script.
 
I can write a feature script in as little as three or four days but that's only after spending three months outlining. Even then, that's only the 1st draft; then I'll rewrite at least five or six times off that draft.
 
it takes me a week atleast to write a short...

i have a bad habit of revising work mid-draft though...i am trying to kick that habit.
 
Well, if you figure 40 wpm for a so-so typist, 110 pages for a script, 250 words per page, the whole thing should only take about eleven hours.
 
Sorry, it takes months, about 3 months to get a first draft and another 2 months
to polish that first draft. So about 5 months in all. The most pages I've written in
a single day however has been 14 for a short script.
 
I wrote a 10 page script in 2 hours... pretty solid first draft too.... my buddy is a much faster writer... he wrote a 20 page script in 6 hours... and it was GREAT! Barely any revisions, before production... Longest I took was adapting Smuggler's Ransom... took several months until we were pretty happy.
 
Hmm it takes me about 8 months to get a full feature where I think it should be. Consider though that I write about 1-2 hours per day. If you want I can write 100 pages from here and be done in ten hours. Probably a load of drunken shite though, unless its an action movie.
 
This is all fun to talk about and "brag" about your fastest endeavor, but I think it is important to remember that a well crafted screenplay takes a considerable amount of time. Between thinking out the idea, characters, plot, throughlines, etc. Then doing proper research into the world of the script. Outlining, writing beat sheets, scene cards, character bios, developing backstory.

Then when all that is done, crafting a first draft which then must go through review and revision until it is honed into a fine piece of literature and ultimately art.

Sure you can hammer out a feature script in a couple days, but it is not going to be camera ready (not if you want people to actually like the film).

Just my $0.01 9/10 :)
 
I wrote the script that i am currently shooting in a 18 hour session, total 96 pages. The only thing I knew before I sat down was the beggining, the middle and the end. (first draft of course)
Since the film takes place in 3 countries, each country is 30 minutes or so, that made it easier to think of the whole thing as 3 segments.

Final draft took about a week, even though i still like to change a few things here and there while shooting.
 
Larry R said:
This is all fun to talk about and "brag" about your fastest endeavor, but I think it is important to remember that a well crafted screenplay takes a considerable amount of time.
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Absolutely. My "real" project I'm expecting to take at least six months of interviews, research, travel, possibly being kidnapped, and then maybe another six months to a year to actually write (depending on how long I've been kidnapped for).

But, it's fun to brag now and then, and this discussion is just for fun. But since we're on the topic:

ncje said:
If you want I can write 100 pages from here and be done in ten hours.
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CHALLENGE! I'll be generous, give you until Monday. Go! :beer:
 
Cineaste said:
The only thing I knew before I sat down was the beggining, the middle and the end.
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Well, I'd say those are pretty good things to know, right? If I ever knew all three when starting out on a project you could hardly even call this "work"!
 
dougspice said:
Well, I'd say those are pretty good things to know, right? If I ever knew all three when starting out on a project you could hardly even call this "work"!
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I think Syd Field said it best "know your ending", I think it's fun to write just whatever comes to mind but it makes me desperate not knowing what direction the idea is going.

I try to imagine (or research) as much i can, before sitting in front of the computer and as probably others already mentioned before, writing on index cards. I have a bunch of index cards in front of me with a 2-3 word description of the scene or the segment and then go from there.
 
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