Editing Buffy the Vampire Slayer (section)

===Writing===
[[Screenwriting|Script-writing]] was done by [[Mutant Enemy Productions|Mutant Enemy]], a production company created by Whedon in 1997. The writers with the most writing credits<ref name="buffywriters1">{{cite web |publisher=BBC |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/buffy/indetail/ |title=Buffy Episode Guide |access-date=December 20, 2019 |archive-date=December 3, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191203104527/http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/buffy/indetail/ |url-status=live }}</ref> are [[Joss Whedon]], [[Steven S. DeKnight]], [[Jane Espenson]], [[David Fury]], [[Drew Goddard]], [[Drew Greenberg]], [[David Greenwalt]], [[Rebecca Rand Kirshner]], [[Marti Noxon]] and [[Doug Petrie]]. Other authors with writing credits include Dean Batali, [[Carl Ellsworth]], [[Tracey Forbes]], [[Ashley Gable]], [[Howard Gordon]], Diego Gutierrez, Elin Hampton, Rob Des Hotel, Matt Kiene, Ty King, Thomas A. Swyden, Joe Reinkemeyer, Dana Reston and [[Dan Vebber]].<ref name="buffywriters2">{{cite web |publisher=TV.com |url=http://www.tv.com/buffy-the-vampire-slayer/show/10/cast.html?flag=3&tag=subtabs;writers_directors |title=List of Buffy Writers |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604115047/http://www.tv.com/buffy-the-vampire-slayer/show/10/cast.html?flag=3&tag=subtabs%3Bwriters_directors |archive-date=June 4, 2011}}</ref>

[[Jane Espenson]] has explained how scripts came together.<ref>{{cite web |last=Espenson |first=Jane |url=http://www.janeespenson.com/writing_process.php |title=The Writing Process |publisher=JaneEspenson.com |year=2003 |access-date=March 9, 2013 |archive-date=April 11, 2013 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130411042938/http://www.janeespenson.com/writing_process.php |url-status=live }}</ref> First, the writers talked about the emotional issues facing Buffy Summers and how she would confront them through her battle against evil supernatural forces. Then the episode's story was broken into acts and scenes. Act breaks were designed as key moments to intrigue viewers so that they would stay with the episode following the [[television advertisement|commercial break]]. The writers collectively filled in scenes surrounding these act breaks for a more fleshed-out story. A whiteboard marked their progress by mapping brief descriptions of each scene. Once breaking was complete, the credited author wrote an outline for the episode, which was checked by Whedon or Noxon. The writer then wrote a full script, which went through a series of drafts, and finally a quick rewrite from the showrunner. The final article was used as the shooting script.