Realistic Rough Completion Time

[Maladroit]

How much time do you all spend on your first draft?

I have written 6 screenplays, but it was always with a writing partner. (He and I have the same agent.) Now I want to write one on my own.

I pitched it to my agent and she actually displayed some excitement, so I would assume she really likes the concept. Problem is, she decided she wants to see it ASAP and encouraged me to write it on spec.

As I haven't quite worked-out a solid ending, I'm wondering how long most of you spend on the first draft? The reason I ask is because once I have a rough, I can at least submit a logline and synopsis to my agent.

She can "go shopping" while I rewrite, polish and solicit a few proof readers.

I'm having trouble deciding how much to write each day and how many days per week is the "norm" to work?

[dpaterso]

There is no easy answer, everybody's different.

But if you aim for an average of 3-5 pages per day, which isn't exactly a taxing amount, you're going to find yourself with a screenplay-length manuscript (anything from 90-120 pages depending on genre) in maybe 3-4 weeks?

So let's take an average of an average and say three weeks for a first draft...

So if you're in a hurry, perhaps two weeks isn't unreasonable...

And if it's an emergency... and you drink lots of coffee and hit 10-15 pages per day... then a week to 10 days isn't unreasonable either.

Like I say, everybody's different, the averages might not work for you. Good luck with kindling your agent's excitement. :)

-Derek
My Web Page - naked women, bestial sex, and whopping big lies. (http://hometown.aol.co.uk/DPaterson57)
Take the critiques you get with a grain of salt. Invariably, some of the critics will be kooks, bitter curmudgeons, or complete fools. ~odocoileus

[icerose]

Depends on the script, some I have managed to write a rough draft in 4 days, and others take 4 weeks. It really depends on if I have it all visuallized or if I have to make it up as I go along.
Sara

[zeprosnepsid]

It definitely depends on you. It also depends on how you write. I think out my entire plot and a lot of my scenes before I start writing so I can actually write 30 pages in a 6-8 hour day. I also type really fast.

But if you're writing from the beginning without much of a plan, it's going to be a lot slower than that. I also just want to get it out in a first draft and don't overthink every line or moment with the intention of fixing it in subsequent drafts, that also allows me to go faster but makes more work later. But it sounds like you want your first draft to be a little better quality than that so it'll take longer.

My boyfriend can write maybe 1 page an hour no matter how much he's thought about it. That's just his speed.

So just start writing and write full days if you have them (breakfast, 4 hours, lunch, 4 hours, dinner, relax). After one or two days you'll know how many pages you are capable of doing in that time and can plan accordingly.

Good luck =)

[Winterchase]

Editors I work with, have an implied "rule"; Assignments due yesterday will be requested before noon tomorrow.

It's amazing what pressure and a pay-check will do to speed things up.

[Uberpickle]

I would try to advise you to do at least 8-16 pages a day plus notes. Dont concentrate on the speed of which it need to be done, concentrate on developing a good story and great characters: I've learned that the hard way (look at my post in screenwriting titled "hi!"). Never rush through things, even if you have a deadline. If you dedicate full hours towards what your doing, you'll get a surprising amount of work done. If your talking about a feature, maybe 2-4 hours a day plus 8 on the weekends (I wish I had that much time) over the course of a month. Yeah, maybe that might work......