So Close...

If you're anything like me, there is nothing quite as satisfying as completing a script. It is the pure act of creation, something from nothing. In this case, a first draft had existed prior to this script, but enough substantive changes were made that it feels new. Oh, sure, I can already tell which scenes need to be rewritten, which characters need to be made more consistent, but that's rewriting. As for the initial draft, it's close, so very close.

The thing I dislike about rewriting is the departure from the joy of creation. Fine-tuning is a necessity and has its own rewards, but for sheer creative thrill, I'll go with the first draft every time. I think that's why so manya re resistant to the rewrite. It lacks the charge of seeing a story unfold, for characters to be born. It lacks the surprises when you're rewriting, those moments when a character says or does something you hadn't planned, but that works spectacularly well. Or a scene that never played that well in your head that sings on paper. I love those moments and, for a writer, nothing comes close to delivering the same satisfaction. To paraphrase Homer J., you can try to fill that hole with work, religion and family, but you'll never be as complete a person as when you finish a script.

And, yet, there is work to be done. Poor Jake is stranded in an unfamiliar world and his friends and family are in terrible danger of his insane uncle. Time to get back to them, to get Jake back where he belongs and appropriately punish the villains. After that, a moment's celebration, then rewrites. More about them later. For now, I'm enjoying the creation and anticipating the completion. Those are my favorite parts, and I have to remind myself to savor them.