Wednesday 17 October 2012

Writing Assignment Tracker I

Two posts in one day.  Like waiting for the number 19 etc.

So here’s my new blog topic.  I’ve recently been lucky enough to be engaged to write the screenplay adaptation of a popular novel (I won’t go into more details of the project at the moment).  I’ve just received the final copy of the contract from my wonderful agent Sean Gascoine, in which the terms of the engagement were broken down.

I don’t believe these terms are confidential, so I thought it would be instructive to my blog readers to see how an assignment like this is broken down, both in terms of steps and time allocated.  I’ve typed it all out below. 

I started work on step one (first draft treatment) this week.  My intention is to keep a record of the timings on this project, and any other notes which feel appropriate, in this blog.  A real-time writing assignment tracker, as it were.  See if we end up ahead of or waaaaaaay behind schedule, and see where there was perhaps too much or too little time allocated in the contract.  Maybe at the end I’ll be able to say what it was all in aid of.

Hope you enjoy.

Step

Name

Time Allocated

Estimated Date

1.

First Draft Treatment

1 month

15/11/12

2.

First Draft Treatment client comments

3 weeks

06/12/12

3.

Second Draft Treatment

10 days

16/12/12

4.

Second Draft Treatment client comments

4 weeks

13/01/13

5.

First Draft

12 weeks

07/04/13

6.

First Draft client comments

8 weeks

02/06/13

7.

Revised First Draft

4 weeks

30/06/13

8.

Revised First Draft client comments

2 weeks

14/07/13

9.

Second Draft

4 weeks

11/08/13

11.

Second Draft First Set

6 weeks

22/09/13

12.

Second Draft Second Set

6 weeks

03/11/13

Wow.  That’s over a year’s work.  Hadn’t thought it was that much.  And I was planning on getting a first draft out by Christmas...

Any comments on this basic proposal at this stage?  I presume we all agree that just because it says 1 month for the first draft of the treatment, doesn’t mean I need to take the full month, does it?  I’m almost done.

Well, we’ll see how it all goes.

2 comments:

  1. Very timely: I've just been given a book to adapt myself. But I'd've thought step 1 would be a shorter document - such as a Blake Snyder-esque beat sheet - to establish the structure first. Or will the structure mirror that of the novel pretty closely?

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  2. No it's a good point. The first doc is going to be a 4 page 'road map', maybe a page of overview / themes and then a page per act of broad story beats.

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