Your writing stages?

What stages do you go through when writing a script?

Mine are:

Original topic inspiration. I have lots of idea when walking or driving or whatever. Sometimes one idea seems a bit more of a goer than the others and I want to put it down on paper. (Or in a computer file)

Rough scribbling. I think of the first episode and jot down 20 lines of roughly what I want to happen in the story. A few key situations and the main story lines, and any good joke I can think of.

Detailed plan. 3-5 pages of A4 in my notebook. A scene by scene account of what is happening, who is where, and what has to be done and said for the story to work. I come back and revise this plan a few times and shift scenes about and make notes of jokes I want to get in. This bit definitely seems the most like proper hard work.

Write the script. I write the script out in the correct format. This is the bit where I add the jokes that come from the interplay of the characters. And of course all the other words and action that make the whole thing work and be 'real'. It's by far the most fun bit and comes pretty easy.

Rewriting. I leave it alone and try to forget about it, then try to read it with fresh eyes and make changes. Repeat as necessary.

How do you guys do it?

Like you do.

Good.

For some reason I always get the feeling that I'm doing it wrong in some way. As if there is a vital bit I'm missing out that nobody will tell me about. General human paranoia I suppose.

You seem to be missing the stage where you sell the script, move to Hollywood and become a millionaire.
I know I'm guilty of overlooking this myself.

Hollywood??? What's wrong with Cricklewood!

I'd settle for Pinewood, though.

The missus would just settle for wood.

I forgot the last stage. Sending my script off and waiting. And waiting. And waiting. And then being rejected.

Don't wait. Get on with something else. Another script - or a play or something you can make happen yourself.

After a lot of trial & error trying to find a way to suit me, my method is pretty much the same as yours. I am currently at the detailed notes stage. Although I also write tiny bits of the script along the way to get a feel for the characters & proposed situations. This won't be the actual script, but more an aid to help with my planning as I go.

I find beat cards incredibly useful.

I've finished like 3 or 4 episodes of my show so for the episode I'm working on I kind of felt like I didn't need the cards. But I did it anyway. I tore up a sheet of A4 into ten bits for the ten beats and wrote a brief description, location and characters on each one. Then I laid them out to figure out the order.

The thing is, it became obvious almost immediately that I could combine two beats into one scene. Also, the cards are just a different way of visualising things so I thought of a couple of possible thematic links and asked myself a couple of important questions about logistics.

Very useful.

I have an extra stage, cutting. I write way more than I need to (towards double) and then cut out the excess - it's actually my favourite bit as you hav eto be quite brutal but you end up with a nice, sharp piece

Surely one writes for the stage not with it?

I tend to go through the drunken stage, then hungover stage, then it just kind of repeats like that