Out of the Ashes of the First Draft

"The road to hell is paved with works in progress" - Philip Roth (author of the novel American Pastoral)

In the useful, necessary and altogether edifying process of receiving notes on your first draft, there comes a point where you say, "Pass the lighter fluid, because this thing is going on the BBQ." Just to clarify, you don't need lighter fluid to burn the script. Paper is famously flammable. The lighter fluid is to toast your work as you watch it burn.

The next morning, you wake up to the realisation that the notes weren't that bad and that maybe there is still something there for you to work with. After a moment's panic you also remember that you have a computer and that it still has the script on it! Great!

Now it's time to take a step back and consider what drew you to this particular story in the first place. What moods and feelings will carry us through a scene. How the characters will grow and change in more meaningful ways with each draft.

​And you think, "God dammit. I wish I hadn't finished all the lighter fluid."