Here's a thought I have whenever I'm working on a new script:
A feature script usually runs 15-20,000 words (an hourlong episode around 10,000). If you were charged with simply hammering out 15,000 free-association words, you could do it in a day.
But scripts don’t take a day to write. They take weeks. Months. Sometimes longer. So the problem then is not in the writing. It’s in the not-writing. The thinking. The choosing. The cutting.
I take a slightly dim view of anyone who announces “I wrote ten pages today” or “I’m 35 pages into my latest script!” We all need milestones to celebrate - I appreciate that. But it makes me wonder if they understand the task at all.
The core challenge of a script isn’t that you have 15,000 words to write. It’s that you ONLY have 15,000 words to write.
You ONLY have a handful of characters. You ONLY have what we can see and what we can here. You ONLY have relentless forward progression.
The creative constraints placed on the screenplay format are considerable. The resources available to you are extremely finite.
So you must use them well. You must be very careful with what actually makes it into your script. Because every element, every detail, every character is taking up their share of - as they say in the business - real estate.
Imagine you were given £100 to host a dinner. If you invited one guest, you could make them a wonderful meal, carefully prepared using premium ingredients. If you invited 50 guests they’d all be getting cabbage soup.
I go deeper - and ask six crucial questions about your script - here:
https://robshayeswriter.beehiiv.com/
Check it out when it drops this afternoon.
Thanks for reading,
Rob
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I know what you mean, Rob Hayes. A scene seems like something a writer could finish in minutes, but sometimes I spend hours on it. What's the name of the article?
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I just read the article, Rob Hayes. I subscribed to your newsletter and got the article in my inbox. Must-read article! Thanks for the article and six questions!
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Creativity is so subjective, I tend to think of others milestones as simply process. My two pages versus their ten means nothing. My two pages versus Maurice's scene mean nothing. It's just process.
The end result is what matters. Skeleton to full script or word salad to full script - if the ending script is amazing, it's amazing.
I do look forward to reading the article when it drops! I build on a skeleton script, so I'm excited to see what else you have to say about scriptwriting. I'm still learning so stuff like this is really helpful. Thanks for sharing with us.
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Rob Hayes, thank you so much for the opportunity to join your project.
For a beginner, having access to education and full scripts is a truly important stage.
I’ve already managed to spill more than 15,000 words onto the page — only to realize (praise be to the screenwriting muse, whoever she is) that words alone don’t make a script.
What matters is what remains after the crossing out.
What breathes. What moves the story forward.
I’m genuinely happy to be part of this journey on Tuesdays.
Thank you for being so open and generous in sharing your experience.
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Nice write-up Rob Hayes and I subscribed to your newsletter and got the article in my inbox..
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I like Elle Bolan 's take here. For me I do like to keep track of my word count and where I'm at from a page count standpoint each day. Not because I'm motivated by quantity over quality, but because I cut my teeth as a freelance writer and later novelist so word count as an important metric is hard to disconnect from. At the end of the day though, you're right (Rob) that the output is ultimately what matters, and the value of that output isn't up to us as creators, it's up to the execs that we pitch.