Script Doctoring

Script doctors are like doctors for your words. Whatever is wrong, they will diagnose it and fix the problem. Whether it’s dialogue, story structure, plot, pacing, character development, and more, a good script doctor will improve your entire script.

If you’ve been thinking about writing a screenplay or have one written already, you could always use someone to improve it, even after you’ve written multiple drafts. This is because a fresh set of experienced eyes can spot areas needing work. Even professional screenwriters often recruit a script doctor to take their work to the next level. Let’s take the blockbuster film Apocalypse Now, often cited as one of the best films of all time. It was polished by renowned script doctor John Millius who beefed up the dialogue and took it to a place of legendary status. After that, he was the hired gun brought in to doctor numerous other scripts such as Conan the Barbarian and Red Dawn.

Writing as a script doctor is a full-time career for those who dedicate themselves to it and they take it very seriously. Everyone, from novice writers to experts, works with a script doctor to zero in on what needs improving and to make their script the best it can be. Working collaboratively with other writers typically results in a better final product. That’s why television shows typically have a team of writers, not just one.

That screenplay needs to be the best it can be for one reason: Competition. Tens of thousands of screenplays are submitted to studios for every one film or TV show that gets produced.

One big question is: How do you know you should seek the help of a professional script doctor?

1. If you’re a new screenwriter, plan on hiring one. The odds are 99.99% that a script doctor will be needed. That is a conservative number.
2. If you’re in a screenwriting class, you’ll be told if it needs further work.
3. If you’ve submitted it to screenplay competitions and you aren’t winning consistently, it needs help.
4. If you’ve submitted your script to an agent and it got rejected, it needs work.
5. If you know people in the film or TV business and they said no, it’s not good enough.
6. If your mom says, “I really love your writing” after reading it, take that as a gentle way of saying: “Try again.”

It’s important to do your due diligence when looking for a script doctor who will come up with the right prescription for your script ailment. A script doctor who is a ghostwriter is the best of both worlds. Why? Because a ghostwriter takes no credit. Many authors shy away from hiring another writer because they want to be credited as the sole scriptwriter and retain sole rights to the project.

That’s why a ghostwriter is perfect. They write, you get the credit.