From start to finish. I mean totally finished? What the longest and fastest time it has taken.
Thanks
Thanks
How long does it take you to write a script?
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HouseboundWriter
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For a feature length script covering everything from outline through all the rewrites I’d say it takes me on average about six months. If I'm writing something episodic for TV usually 4-6 days but I know of people who are currently working in the film industry that can write a feature screenplay in ten days, not saying that it is necessarily a great screenplay but they produce a 120+ page script in less than 2 weeks. I’m not a working screenwriter I only have a few writing credits to my name so I may not be the best judge to declare how long it should or shouldn’t take just how long it takes me to write but I hope this was somewhat useful to you even though.
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Shortest - 21 days. Longest - 14 years.
And honestly it's always a 'first draft' until it's optioned. Then it will be rewritten numerous times. So I'm not sure what you mean by 'totally finished'. Scripts are often altered IN production, so they are not finished until the movie is completed.
And honestly it's always a 'first draft' until it's optioned. Then it will be rewritten numerous times. So I'm not sure what you mean by 'totally finished'. Scripts are often altered IN production, so they are not finished until the movie is completed.
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Shortest - 12 days
Shortest (that got made) - 25 days
Longest - 10 months (unmade)
Longest - 5 months (getting made)
There's a lesson in there somewhere.
And the shortest that got made had an additional writer (the director) drastically revise the second half of the movie within that 25 day period. I think it's rare that one writer can pump out a shootable script. You can definitely get most of the way there, but without the luxury of time there'll be something missing. Unless you're a genius of course which I am definitely not.
Shortest (that got made) - 25 days
Longest - 10 months (unmade)
Longest - 5 months (getting made)
There's a lesson in there somewhere.
And the shortest that got made had an additional writer (the director) drastically revise the second half of the movie within that 25 day period. I think it's rare that one writer can pump out a shootable script. You can definitely get most of the way there, but without the luxury of time there'll be something missing. Unless you're a genius of course which I am definitely not.
This thread caught my eye as I was "passing by". The 'duration factor' is something that has been in the back of my mind, & had not really become 'concrete' until this thread.
I strongly suspect that there must be so many variables affecting duration of 'unit'/script production, let alone frequency eg. writing full-time or part-time, stage of career (?), type of script (tv vs. film), how many 'irons in the fire', just to mention some off the top of my head.
However, this figure of 6 months for a feature has cropped up before, with another I know who writes in a language that is not English. Yardsticks such as this don't really seem to mean much, except to let us know that 'feature-length film scripts are likely to take 6 months to write', all things being equal.
I strongly suspect that there must be so many variables affecting duration of 'unit'/script production, let alone frequency eg. writing full-time or part-time, stage of career (?), type of script (tv vs. film), how many 'irons in the fire', just to mention some off the top of my head.
However, this figure of 6 months for a feature has cropped up before, with another I know who writes in a language that is not English. Yardsticks such as this don't really seem to mean much, except to let us know that 'feature-length film scripts are likely to take 6 months to write', all things being equal.
I wrote an episodic script for a friend who has a webseries on Youtube. It took me about a week from conception to finish. A feature in six months sounds about right, but you better have the idea at the very beginning.
How long?
Shortest was 3 weeks from original idea to finished script, but the entire thing came to me in a flash.
Longest was nearly a year.
The others took probably 4 to 6 months to write.
I've written eight for an average of one per year, but the 3 week script is the one that has got closest to a sale!
Shortest was 3 weeks from original idea to finished script, but the entire thing came to me in a flash.
Longest was nearly a year.
The others took probably 4 to 6 months to write.
I've written eight for an average of one per year, but the 3 week script is the one that has got closest to a sale!
What I mean by totally finished is just that, in your mind it's finished or you wouldn't shop it. For people who did it in a month or less, how many hours a day did you write and did you already have the idea flushed out, with outlines or did you just write and re-write?
Shortest? Eight or ten days. Wrote it on deadline for a contest. Came in as a finalist, but no win.
Longest? Hmm. Three-ish years, rewriting to satisfy various development notes while the project slowly ground to a halt. That's not writing every day for three years, mind you, but pecking away as the project variously received input and new life from the production company and its various personages, appurtenances, and partners.
I had solid ideas for both. That's usually how I write. Get idea. Write story. No outlining. No major rewriting.
The initial writing of the so-called 3-year script actually took, I dunno, a month maybe. Probably working two to four hours a day, and likely inconsistent, at that, since I had two jobs at the time. The rewriting was largely motivated by budget, followed by various attempts to shrink the script in one way or another, followed by requests to move some plot machinery (put the inciting incident on page one! it can't be on page ten where it presently makes sense!).
Longest? Hmm. Three-ish years, rewriting to satisfy various development notes while the project slowly ground to a halt. That's not writing every day for three years, mind you, but pecking away as the project variously received input and new life from the production company and its various personages, appurtenances, and partners.
I had solid ideas for both. That's usually how I write. Get idea. Write story. No outlining. No major rewriting.
The initial writing of the so-called 3-year script actually took, I dunno, a month maybe. Probably working two to four hours a day, and likely inconsistent, at that, since I had two jobs at the time. The rewriting was largely motivated by budget, followed by various attempts to shrink the script in one way or another, followed by requests to move some plot machinery (put the inciting incident on page one! it can't be on page ten where it presently makes sense!).
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I average about six edited, revised, polished, ready to go pages per day. I just wish I enjoyed writing scripts on a regular basis. I write one about every two to three years.
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How long is the deadline
?I don't think I could match the masters like Roger Corman shooting a movie two days after they start writing it, but I've written a half-decent feature script in two weeks before when someone needed something to show a potential investor. I think I spent the rest of the month rewriting it and it could still do with some tidying, but 90% of it is there; I didn't have a day job at the time, so that was probably 4-6 hours a day. AFAIR the investor said they liked it but gave the money to someone else in the end... I keep meaning to fix up the last 10% and then see if anyone wants to shoot it.
Ultimately even a feature-length script just isn't a lot of words: if you know the story before you start then putting all the words down on paper doesn't take long.
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If I can 'dedicate' time to writing - I typically aim for three to four hours a day. Usually between 10am and 2pm when I feel 'fresh'. I aim for five pages a day. Sometimes I get ten, sometimes two. At that rate, I can crank out a script in three weeks.
I've started scripts with no more than a 'great idea' and some concept of an ending, and was surprised by all the twists and turns the characters took me on. My current project has a true story based on a historical event - and it is requiring some deep research and some outlining. I don't have a usual approach regarding outline vs no outline. Depends on how and when the idea comes to me.
I've started scripts with no more than a 'great idea' and some concept of an ending, and was surprised by all the twists and turns the characters took me on. My current project has a true story based on a historical event - and it is requiring some deep research and some outlining. I don't have a usual approach regarding outline vs no outline. Depends on how and when the idea comes to me.
Shortest is two days (a script that I ultimately sold and was produced, by the way).
Longest? Who knows? There are a bunch of scripts sitting around that I started years ago that I might yet finish. When you're talking about scripts that are going through the development process, that can go on for as long as it's in development, which can be years.
If you're talking about writing a spec script from starting to write to going out with it, it's taken as long as six months but usually it takes around six weeks to two months these days.
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I think the OP is really asking about personal workflows. Like NMS says "Who knows" how long the longest could take? When do you start the clock? The moment you perhaps jot down an idea? The moment you start doing a bit of research on it? The moment you type FADE IN ? And as has been pointed out - 'completion' is a slippery term as well. I've gotten scripts to the point where they were ready to shop around. Then, a couple of years later, I've revisited them to update and refresh them.
How long is a piece of string? As long as it needs to be.
How long is a piece of string? As long as it needs to be.
I was just wondering how fast it could be done. I can see it taking years and can see it taking only a few weeks (i can't see a few days yet) for a professional writer with the time to write. I was just generally asking. I guess I could see myself writing one very quickly, it would suck, but I'd have it done fast.
I'm still new to scripts, but I did ScriptFrenzy last year and finished a hundred pages in thirty days.
On a regular writing day, I aim for three pages per day.
On a regular writing day, I aim for three pages per day.
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Hmm, good point: I think I finished my ScriptFrenzy script in under two weeks last year. But that was nowhere near production ready.
If someone is spending years trying to get to 'FADE OUT' on their first script then ScriptFrenzy might be a good incentive to prove they can get all the words down if they set their mind to doing so. Odds are it will be lousy without a solid outline beforehand, but at least it will have some kind of beginning, middle and end.
Once you at least have a first draft of something, writing the next one will only be easier.
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For a feature spec, about six months from inception to ready-for-shopping. I once wrote a horror spec in one month. It was shite and it got me nowhere.
Wish like hell it would take less time. Maybe someday.
Wish like hell it would take less time. Maybe someday.
Script Frenzy is the same as NaNoWriMo. You have one month (thirty days) to write a hundred pages of script. It takes place in April every year.
Doesn't have to be good, just has to be done.
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I was just wondering how fast it could be done. I can see it taking years and can see it taking only a few weeks (i can't see a few days yet) for a professional writer with the time to write. I was just generally asking. I guess I could see myself writing one very quickly, it would suck, but I'd have it done fast.
This whole frenzied quest to write a quick script, misses the mark from my perspective. Every now and then, you hear about some software that writes the script for you, all you got to do is plug in the characters and basic storyline. Or other such outlandish tricks for turning out a script fast-fast-fast.
Writing a script is a process. A process in which you must put your trust that it will turn out okay in the end. Some people, myself included, attempt to relax and enjoy that process and find that it produces superior results. Especially if you don't have a deadline pressing you to hurry.
If you're writing a spec script, what is the value of turning out a rushed work? Having "something" is about as good as having a bowl of steaming linguini in furthering your writing career if that "something" is half-baked.
Well, I hear you say, then I have a piece to re-write. Re-writing is quite possibly the hardest part of writing. Personally, I find it harder to re-envision a scene that's already on the page. I can do it, but dat shit be hard.
Essentially, my question for you is, why the rush?
If you are asking me, I am not in a rush at all, but I would like to finish the damn thing. What made me ask the initial question in the first place was I am going so slow it'll probably take a few years to finish.
But after reading this thread, I was thinking that it's better to write it fast and even if it's garbage it can be rewritten, but now you are poo-pooing that idea.
But after reading this thread, I was thinking that it's better to write it fast and even if it's garbage it can be rewritten, but now you are poo-pooing that idea.