I’m not entirely sure where all this time has gone. I think it’s been sucked into a vortex of disturbed nights, madcap days and juggling three too many things at once. But…
I finished the first draft of my screenplay!
On June 15th to be exact. It was momentous. I’d had the initial idea over 10 YEARS AGO. It still makes me twitch to think about the time that’s passed, not to mention I’m getting to an age where I can speak in decades quite comfortably…. anyway, it felt great.
What have I been doing since? Well, first I cut and pasted the script from a Word doc to a proper script format (I used Final Draft) which took a lot longer than I would have liked and had me cursing my decision to “free write” in Word to begin with.
The general advice is to give yourself at least a week (longer if possible) before reading your script. So, I watched a few pilot episodes and read a few scripts and barely a week later, I printed the whole thing out and strode proudly to a coffee shop. I imagined that someday people would say: “Did you know Elizabeth Inniss edited her first proper script here on Bearwood High Street?!”
With well-deserved coffee in one hand, I opened my script with a joy… that sizzled away like water on a hot plate as I realised my screenplay was SHIT.
I was trying to say too much, the dialogue creaked under the weight of exposition, I belaboured my points, had some boring bits of dialogue (you know, where you describe someone sitting down and eating, or the beginning of conversations that go: Hello, how are you? I’m fine, how are you?). Gah!

The break had afforded me some perspective and I could see the flaws I’d missed before. I didn’t finish reading. I gulped down my coffee and sped home to find Save the Cat and stamp on it. But before I did, I went back to the latest chapter and, lucky for my Kindle, it said:
You come back to that glorious hatchling, read it over from start to finish… and are suddenly struck dumb. It’s awful!!! Well, fear not. It always happens.
Oh OK.
A second (full) reading showed me it wasn’t all bad. I cut out the useless info (the “hi, how are you?” was the first to go) and read my books and a few articles like this and this on common errors newbie screenwriters make. After some serious editing, it started to shape up.
Once it was less cringe-worthy I sent it to my first (and kindest) reader, my partner, Matthew. As an experienced screenwriter, his insight would be valuable, as my love, his critique would be gently(ish) delivered. Of course, as soon as I sent it I wanted it to be read. Fortunately, Matt, who’d been waiting for about two years for this script, obliged.
The verdict….
He really liked it! It made him laugh, he engaged with and rooted for my characters and was moved – which is everything a writer of a character-driven drama wants to hear. He pointed out that I was still doing a lot of telling rather than showing and there were a few pacing issues but – and here’s the best bit: it’s not a disaster. Woohoo!

Naturally, I asked for reassurance that he was being as objective (as possible). I’m loath to be like those singers who appear on Britain’s Got Talent (or indeed any talent show) because a family member (usually a nana) has convinced them they’re great, when, actually, they’re tone-deaf.
If you’re in the in-between times, an artist trying to make something that’s only halfway there, or indeed anyone striving through a project which looks a bit of a mess right now, this amazing video could make you feel so much better (in only 2 minutes).
I’ve since edited Jackpot thoroughly and draft two is shaping up to be much improved. It’s been a lesson in humility and my writing is getting better each day. Thank goodness 😉
x
You are so wise and brilliant!!! The way you story-told this had me laughing and totally resonating with the “This is perfect! No edits needed here!!” To “might as well scrap the whole thing because this is unusable!” — I def rise that roller coaster often!! Thank you for adding such clarity and humor to it (as well as super perfect gifs hahahaha)!!
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Thank you so much my writing sister! I really appreciate your comment and love that it resonated for you ❤
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It is certainly a challenge for me too, Alex! I’m trying to keep things simple though. Let me know how you get on 🙂
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Hi Alex, thank you very much! I had a self-hosted WordPress site (with Bluehost) but it didn’t work out for me as it kept crashing and I don’t have the time for maintenance. So… I transferred my blog to WordPress.com instead and they also host it. It was a very smooth and quick transition (thank goodness!). Good luck with getting yours up and running.
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Helpful information. Fortunate me I found your website accidentally, and I am surprised why this twist of fate didn’t happened earlier! I bookmarked it.
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Hi Aline, wonderful, thank you! I hope it helps you. Are you writing anything at the moment?
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F*ckin’ remarkable things here. I’m very glad to look your post. Thank you so much and i’m looking forward to contact you. Will you please drop me a mail?
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Hi Miriam, thank you so much. I hope you find it useful. If you’d like to ask me any questions, please feel free to contact me (there’s a form on the blog). Good luck with your writing!
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