How Long Does A Brand New Spec Take?

A Look @ A Schedule for a New Feature Spec

I can't tell how many times I've heard writers talk about finishing a brand new spec in a month or two. I can never get my head around it. Blows my mind. I'm not a slow writer, but I try to be realistic about the speed at which a spec progresses. I thought it would be helpful to finally sit down and chart out an average, perhaps fast, spec's journey, from start to finish.

So here it is. An ambitious writing schedule for a brand new spec:

First Draft

Idea & Brainstorming - Two Weeks

Treatment & Outlining - Two Weeks

I'm assuming that a month might elapse between the time inspiration hits and the time you begin writing pages.

First Draft - Four Weeks

Now you need to get notes. You may have one fast reading friend, but most people require two weeks to read a script and get back to you. And then it takes a week to go get lunch/coffee with everyone and collect their feedback.

Rewrite

Notes on Rough Draft - Three Weeks

Processing Notes and Re-Outlining - Two Weeks

Rewrite - Four Weeks

We have a rewrite! And we're going to assume you are right on track and only need one more rewrite here.

Second Rewrite

Notes on Draft Two - Three Weeks

Processing Notes and Re-Outlining - Two Weeks

Rewrite - Four Weeks

Okay. We're close. But now we need to polish dialogue and tweek a few more things.

Polish

Notes on Draft Three - Three Weeks

Processing Notes and Re-Outlining - One Week

Rewrite - Two Weeks

And we're done!

That's 32 Weeks. 8 Months.

That's assuming you can commit five days a week to writing. That's assuming you don't travel or have any vacation weekends like 4th of July. That's assuming you don't run into a snag and require a rewrite draft just to put you back on track.

So I guess I can see how a fast writer might pull out a drat in a month or two, but it seems naive to assume that draft will be "industry-ready". I guess if there are writers out there that can write "industry-ready" drafts in under three months, I'm just out gunned. But I think a fast spec can be done in 6-9 months. And standard time is 1 year.

How do writers finish more than one spec a year? They transition back and forth between several projects and they write full-time. But I haven't met many writers that can consistently pull that off.