Okay, everybody should continue to rewrite their script. Once again, we are rewriting 3 pages a day 6 days a week. That equals 18 pages total every week. So far, we’ve rewritten 54 pages. After this week, we will be up to 72 pages.
A big thing you’re going to be doing in rewrites is fleshing out the major technical components of your story. With writing, we’re always integrating things into our scripts that we don’t know much about. We may make a character a neuroscientist even though we’ve never been in a scientific lab in our entire lives. Or maybe our script is set in an airport. And we have no idea what airport employees actually do throughout the day.
It’s fine if your first draft doesn’t go into much detail about this stuff. But if you want to separate yourself from the beginner screenwriters out there, you need to flesh out the parts of your screenplay that contain technical elements that surround your characters’ lives so that they feel realistic.
In the past, this was difficult. Let’s say your character was a lawyer. And you had NO IDEA what lawyers did all day. I certainly don’t know. Go to court, maybe? Scream ‘sustained!’ a few times? That’s the extent of my lawyer knowledge. Even hours of internet research didn’t give you a true feel for what a day on the job is like for a lawyer.
But then AI showed up.
I have not been kind to AI in the past. I still think large language models may be the single greatest scam in history. But that’s a topic for another day. One area where I give AI enormous credit is research. You can ask it about very specific things and it will give you very specific answers.
If you’re writing a movie about Air Force 1 crashing in a jungle, for example, you can ask AI how Air Force 1 operates. You can ask it what goes on inside of the plane. You can ask what the protocol is for the pilots. You can ask about the specifics of how a flight comes together. Here’s a snippet of what Chat GPT spat back at me when I asked what went into an Air Force 1 trip from Washington to Germany…
Pre-Flight Preparations
Advance Team Deployment: Weeks before the trip, an advance team comprising Secret Service agents, military personnel, and White House staff travels to Germany to coordinate logistics, security, and other arrangements.
Flight Planning: The Air Force One crew and White House staff work together to plan the flight route, taking into account weather conditions, airspace restrictions, and international flight protocols.
Security Coordination: The Secret Service collaborates with local security forces in Germany to ensure the President’s safety upon arrival. This includes securing the airport, travel routes, and venues.
Briefings: The President receives briefings on the itinerary, security measures, and any geopolitical considerations related to the trip.
Departure from Washington, D.C.
Motorcade to Joint Base Andrews: The President travels from the White House to Joint Base Andrews in a motorcade. This route is heavily secured by the Secret Service.
Pre-Flight Checks: Upon arrival at Joint Base Andrews, Air Force One undergoes final pre-flight checks. The President, staff, and accompanying personnel board the aircraft.
Takeoff Procedures: After boarding, Air Force One takes off, with air traffic control giving priority clearance. The aircraft is typically escorted by fighter jets, especially when flying over potentially hostile regions.
I’ve actually come up with a few good screenplay ideas about doctors or lawyers over the years and I just throw them away because there is zero way for me to convincingly write a lawyer. Like I just said. I wouldn’t know the first thing a lawyer would do when he got to work. But AI has changed that. I’ll ask it right now. What does a lawyer do all day?
The average day of a lawyer can vary significantly depending on their area of specialization (e.g., corporate, criminal, family, intellectual property law), the size of their firm, and whether they work in private practice, for a corporation, or for the government. However, here’s a general overview of what a typical day might look like for a lawyer in private practice:
Morning
Arrive at the Office: Lawyers usually start their day by arriving at their office around 8:00 or 9:00 AM.
Check Emails and Messages: The first task is often to check and respond to emails and phone messages from clients, colleagues, and other parties.
Plan the Day: Reviewing the day’s agenda, scheduling meetings, court appearances, and deadlines. Prioritizing tasks and managing time effectively is crucial.
Client Meetings: Meeting with clients to discuss ongoing cases, provide legal advice, and gather information. This could involve initial consultations with new clients or updates on existing cases.
Mid-Morning
Case Research and Preparation: Conducting legal research using online databases, libraries, and other resources to find relevant case law, statutes, and legal precedents. Preparing documents such as briefs, motions, and contracts.
Drafting Documents: Writing and reviewing various legal documents, including contracts, pleadings, and correspondence. Ensuring all documents are accurate and meet legal standards.
Court Preparation: For litigators, preparing for court appearances which may include reviewing case files, strategizing with colleagues, and practicing arguments.
Lunchtime
Networking and Business Development: Attending lunch meetings with clients, colleagues, or potential clients. Networking is an essential part of a lawyer’s career development and practice growth.
Afternoon
Court Appearances and Depositions: Attending court for hearings, trials, and motions. This involves presenting arguments, examining witnesses, and negotiating settlements. Conducting depositions where witnesses provide sworn testimony outside of court.
Negotiations: Engaging in negotiations with opposing counsel to settle cases or agree on contract terms.
Client Communication: Providing updates to clients on the status of their cases, discussing new developments, and explaining legal options and strategies.
Late Afternoon
Internal Meetings: Attending meetings with colleagues to discuss case strategies, firm business, or continuing legal education. Collaboration with paralegals, assistants, and other lawyers is often necessary.
Document Review: Reviewing and finalizing documents, ensuring all legal standards are met before filing or sharing with clients and opposing counsel.
Evening
Wrap-Up: Finalizing any urgent tasks, sending last-minute emails, and preparing a to-do list for the following day.
Continuing Legal Education: Engaging in professional development activities such as attending seminars, webinars, or reading up on recent legal developments to stay current in their field.
Leave the Office: Depending on the workload, lawyers may leave the office anywhere from early evening to late at night. Work-life balance varies greatly in the legal profession.
This is a treasure trove of information. Anybody who reads this can now convincingly place their characters in a law firm. And this is just the overview. If you want to get more specific, ask it. What kind of cases do lawyers work on? If they’re knee-deep in a big case, what does the daily workflow look like for that case?
As far as I’m concerned, this levels the playing field. It allows writers to write about things they’ve never experienced in their lives with a certain amount of believability. Can you imagine how much better the She-Hulk series would’ve been if even one of those writers used Chat GPT to learn about lawyers?
Use this tool to fill in those technical details you glazed over in the first draft. For example, if your script is about an FBI agent and when your protagonist went to the office you merely wrote: “INT. FBI OFFICE – JOE RAZOR’S DESK – DAY.” And that was the extent of your Federal Building description? You may want to ask AI for help populating that scene.
Never forget that your job, as a screenwriter, is to pull us into your world so that we forget we’re reading something. A great way to do that is by describing the world your characters exist in, in a detailed informative way. Bring us there. Convince us by telling us those details only an FBI agent would know.
It’s not the flashiest part of screenwriting. But it makes a difference!
