Thanks for this Scott. Since I am still developing a process to call my own, I have found so far that writing the entire script in longhand works for me. Seems tedious if not daunting at the outset but once the pen starts going...it just goes. My drafts come out too long but I always think it's better to have to cut back than to embellish and flesh out.

Outlining like mad helps too and I only recently discovered this part. I have always had outlines but they were scant and I would go back to them and not remember what was supposed to be going on in depth at that point. Frustrating.

I've heard other successful writers talk about developing their first drafts via longhand and I thought they were crazy when I was starting out...now I guess I'm crazy too.

Lisa, one of my screenwriting mantras is, "Every writer is different. Every story is different." A corollary: "There is no right way to write a screenplay." Whatever it takes. Whatever works...

Okay, I'll stop the platitudes there.

Re longhand: I believe Ron Bass still writes out his script pages by hand, then at the end of his writing session, he hands them to a long-time assistant who types them up for him to review the next day.

I'm certain there are many others who write longhand.

So crazy it or not, it seems to work for some folks!

Thank you!