The best free lesson on revision -- and it's FUN. (Non-writers, read this too!)

At some point, your favorite book was just a crappy first draft.

[Hope floods aspiring authors everywhere.]

Most writers would love to see this rough copy AFTER reading the brilliant finished product, to learn what changes brought the text to that publishing-worthy level of awesome.

No, I'm not offering a bunch of never-before-seen drafts of novels. But what about movie scripts?

Yes, scripts are a whole different ballgame, and they offer a different set of challenges and limits (aka nothing internal and a boatload of showing-not-telling). BUT they still build a world with appealing characters and a plot that hooks you.

What if I told you that originally, in 10 Things I Hate About You

(aka the PERFECT teen movie*) ...

Kat and Bianca had a mom named Sharon who still was married to their father, and she was the erotica writer in the movie -- not Ms. Perky, the guidance counselor?

" 'Undulating with desire...' "

That Patrick (the adorable Heath Ledger) sang "I Think I Love You" by the Partridge Family to woo Kat back -- instead of "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You"? (And there was no high school band backing him up, thus denying us the brilliance of the scene.)

That the beginning was completely different?

That some of your favorite lines ... weren't there? Or were spoken by a different character?

And that doesn't even cover the altered characters and extra scenes.

Together, these small changes affect the overall feel and effectiveness of the movie. More significantly, Kat and Bianca's mom's absence, which happened in Kat's freshman year of high school, shapes who the sisters are -- and how their lovable-but-insanely-paranoid obstetrician father parents them. Cutting this character added depth to the entire Stratford family -- and having Ms. Perky be the erotica author made her even more hilarious.

Mr. Stratford: Kissing isn't what keeps me up to my elbows in placenta all day long.

Awesomesauce.

Anyway, Daily Script has a TON of movie scripts in every genre at varying stages of revision. Pick your favorite movie, the one you can quote backwards and forwards, and see what might have been if it hadn't been revised over and over again. Analyze how it was made stronger and what you wished they hadn't cut/changed. And laugh and cry at all the best parts, because reading scripts can be just as fun as watching the movie.

Talk about learning by example.

Anyway, here's the link to that version of the 10 Things script. And for added learning fun, here's a TV Tropes list of tropes in the movie. (Proving that you can, in fact, use recognizable character and plot elements to your advantage by giving them your own twist.)

You can thank me later. Or now, in the comments. Now's good. :0)

What movie(s) are you going to read?
* Feel free to argue with me here. What do you think is the perfect teen movie (or TV show)?