First Thought: Best or Worst Thought?

So many seeming contradictions show up when you read Screenwriters on Screenwriting that it can make you crazy.  One ever-unresolvable debate concerns starting points and end results.  We could posit this as a literary duel in the sun that's also applicable to screenwriting -- call it the Hemingway-Ginsberg Paradox.

Allen Ginsberg: First thought, best thought.

Ernest Hemingway: All first drafts are shit.

Obviously, Ginsberg is right.  And so is Hemingway.  Are we clear?  Now, back to your draft!

Seriously, though, there is a way of looking at these apparently opposite stances that honors them both, if you think of "first thought" as primarily having to do with idea, and "first draft" as having to do with execution.  

Except, of course, when the first draft represents the best thought.

If you feel like flattening me with a frying pan right about now, get in line: my forehead's already flattened from me bashing it against my desktop.  I've been working on a personal essay for weeks now (a week past its deadline and counting) and as beaten-up as my brain may feel, the piece in question has in no way been beaten into submission.  A big part of the problem - besides the fact that it's supposed to be 2,500 words in length, and my first draft was over 10,000 - is that I'm still trying to define what the damn thing is about.

That's the essence of this issue, I think.  And I may have been working at my day-gig for too long, because I think what I've been doing is replicating an endemic studio system problem.

Readers of this blog may know that I work for a certain studio which only a couple of years ago had five winning opening weekends in a row, but has recently released a string of tankers.  Some of this is just the vagaries of the game (most studios go through such cycles) but in the Story Department, where we are by nature analytical, a Certain Tendency has been observed.

A script is bought.  The project goes into development, and over time, in the thicket of often competing ideas, in the name of "improvement," something gets submerged and even lost - namely, the original point of the story.  Thus, as the old "Does it have to be a lightbulb?" syndrome takes effect (i.e. the answer to the question, How many development executives does it take to screw in a lightbulb?), what gets lost sight of is what the movie is meant to be about.

It's for this reason that so many studio projects go through so many writers, and that often enough, after a string of rewriters have come and gone, the original writer is brought back in to finish the job.  Easy for me to ask, but...  Maybe sticking with the first take could've saved everyone a lot of trouble?

Obviously in moviemaking, a plethora of unavoidable X-factors come into play (read this hair-raising chronicle of one upcoming studio release's torturous gestation to see how that goes).  And it's not like those many screenwriters hired to help don't do their job (and get paid well), as this info-filled look at the contemporary rewrite game explains.

But from my writer/story analyst point of view, the ball that too often gets dropped is the specific, well-defined answer to "What is the story about?"  And keeping your eye on that ball ought to be any writer's primary order of business.

In this regard, even a shitty first draft often contains the seed or the essence of the story's best idea.  Most rewrite-and- development problems stem from trying to improve other elements, but neglecting to keep that essence intact.  The initial idea for a screenplay (or play, book, song, et al) is the heart of a given project; if you don't locate that organ and nourish it, after all the many transplants and other surgeries, you may find yourself working on a corpse.

This is why, more often than not in the writing of a spec script, "second act problems" turn out to be first act problems: it's all about the setup (first thought).   Nonetheless, ironically, often it's not until you're done with a first draft that you really do know what it is that you're writing (shitty first draft).

In the case of my personal essay, my first thought was too vague, and so my first draft suffered accordingly.  I'm currently about to throw the whole damn thing out and start from a better-informed scratch: I think I finally understand what I want to write, so I'll begin again, with that.  With knowing what the story is about as my starting point and through-line, I ought to be able to put a better foot forward.

Once in a blue moon, a writer does get lucky - not that she or he necessarily knows this.  I was amused to read in this NY Times profile of The National, one of my favorite bands, of how they spent exhaustive time and effort trying to perfect a certain song for their upcoming new album - employing everything from string sections to rebuilt drum kits, ceaselessly re-recording and re-mixing over months of angst-filled work - only to end up at the beginning: their producer decided to release the original first demo of the song, untouched. 

As songwriter Matt Berninger said, "We tried so hard and it always seemed to fail as a rock song. It lost the charm of the ugly little demo. Now it’s the ugliest, worst-mixed, least-polished song on the record, and it took the longest to get there.”  Or as T.S. Eliot said, We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.

Thus, to revisit the Ginsberg-Hemingway debate, I'll posit the following:  A first draft is just something to change...  Unless it's been proven to represent your best thought.

Wouldn't it be great if certain Industry People in High Places would observe this principle?  Well, we can always hope.  That's my first thought, and I'm sticking to it.

Comments

[Julia Kelly]

I'm an illustrator as well- and often I go back to the original sketch and realize I've lost all its "expressiveness" and "life"- the more redraws the worst it gets.

[E.C. Henry]

Interesting post, Billy,

At least you're discerning enough to know when your writing could be improved upon. A lot of writers think their first draft is an upimproveable masterpiece. :D

Even if your first thought holds. Rewriting improves EVERYTHING. To me creative writing is like going back in time and becoming a 14th century map-maker, as you attempt to fill in the missing places on the map.

Billy, I've always liked your advice just to crank out a 1st draft, THEN apply analytical skills to hone one's initial idea. My problem is I'm too much of a perfectionist. I have a tendancy to project final draft expectaions on a 1st draft. THAT makes me a very slow first draft writer. :(

I do believe there is some merit to hiring multiple writers for their take off a script in process. The key is: can the descion maker who is managing these multiple drafts able to sift through multiple ideas, and derive at the best possible story off the takes the studio payed for.

Universal has been on top before. You guys will be back on top again. I believe in Universal's creative team, and can't wait to see what Universal cranks out in the years to come. All is not lost. Better days are coming...

;-) E.C. Henry from Bonney Lake, WA

P.S. What is your personal essay about anyway? And why do you feel the need to write an "essay," anyway? You mentioned this was a personal essay, which hints that it is not a requirement of UCLA faculty, or something pertaining to Universal Studios.

[Judith Duncan]

Hey Billy,

I guess the first thought best thought is usually the idea that hits you with a passion and lights that wonderful spark in the mind and the heart that makes you NEED to sit down and write it all out.I've just had happen to me with a short film that I wrote.The idea came from a very real situation and the whole thing happened in a flash.

That being said,last Friday I attended aseminar with Meg LeFauve,who was fantastic,but who is a great believer in having the premise,synopsis,treatment and beat sheet worked out before you attempt to write.

I guess the eternal challenge for the screenwriter is trying to determine which idea needs which process.Juggling the passion of the idea with the craft,when they work together,it's magic.

[J]

I HEAR YOU HERE.

I'm on my third draft for The Studio and every day I feel like I'm going to hyperventilate because I'm so scared of losing my original intention and the original REASON I wrote the damn thing.

I'm working in slow motion because nothing is worth losing the initial, beautiful impulse.

[l]

Philip Glass quotes A.G.'s "first thought, best thought" in 'A Portrait of Philip...' and then he just groans and continues rewriting.b.

I love E.C. Henry's PS.

[Caitlin]

After I saw Howl, I came home and wrote "First thought, best thought" on a Post-it and stuck it on the wall in front of my desk.

I wanted to write it on the toes of my Converse, but my boyfriend disapproves of writing on one's Converse.

[mernitman]

Julia: That makes perfect sense. Must be a challenge to "re-capture" that first impulse of the hand.

EC: The real problem is that there's rarely one "decision maker" involved. More often than not - and this is more true of the studio system than in indie-land - there are competing factions, i.e. a director has a "vision," a producer has another, the studio has its POV, and the writer is trying to please them all - and maybe herself, without losing the job!

Personal essay is for a book coming out next year called "Cherished: 22 Writers on Animals They Loved and Lost," edited by my friend, writer/instructor Barbara Abercrombie.

Judith: "Juggling the passion of the idea with the craft" - Exactly!

J: As someone once said, I feel your pain. But I'm gonna bet you'll pull it off. And try to bear in mind that these are GOOD problems to be facing (as opposed to many others).

l: Friend Barbara - mentioned above in my reply to EC's p.s. - was just touting this doc. Guess I must rent!

Caitlin: Well, you weren't writing it on HIS Converse - but, hey, I'm not getting in the middle of this. Thanks for the comment, at any rate.

[Christian H.]

Well, I can say that I do believe in the first best thought. But only in that the complexity of a cinematic narrative means endless outlining and scene-shaping, finding the right characters to provide the most emphasis on the story, etc.

I won't even write any of the script until the outline lightbulb goes off. It helps ensure that I have fully fleshed out the entire structure - without dialog or scene description, just the purpose of the scene and locations.

It works pretty well as I'm in PreProd on a short that the director wants to film as is.

I've got another producer - a friend of the one in PrePro who wants a short and we'll see soon if she has notes.

I also think the same as T and T who believe that every script they submit should be ready for filming. Hence why I spend so much time in outline.

I've found all kinds of problems in outline that would have wasted lots of script-hours - even with shorts.