Last week, I finished a first draft script and I'm waiting for script notes from the director. In the meantime, I'm doing a screenplay adaptation of a well-known novel. Today, I finished a preliminary logline and synopsis and I'm going to complete my outline this week. I love writing back-to-back scripts but it doesn't happen all that often. When I'm not creating new work, I'm frequently revisiting older work and doing revisions. So in reality, I'm always involved in some kind of writing. Recently, I signed an option deal for a script I wrote in 2015 and did another slight revision before sending it to the filmmaker. So though I love bursts of inspiration, IMHO, writing consistently is more about discipline than anything else.
What say you?
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Congrats on all the success, Phillip E. Hardy, Prolifique! I do like you ("When I'm not creating new work, I'm frequently revisiting older work and doing revisions"). I'm constantly writing or pitching. Like a 24/7 store. Always open. :)
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Maurice: Constantly writing and pitching is da way!
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I feel it's a complex mixture of fulfilment, reward, and motivation. Sometimes you get in what I call an "upward spiral" where previous work motivates new work. I don't think many people realise that some of the most admired creatives out there have been very fortunate to have constant upward spirals.
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I've experienced that, CJ. Guess I'll call it "upward spiral" too. :)
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Writers write. either you want this life or you don't. Many dont, or simply want the bullshit illusion of a writer's life- typing away in a log cabin, smoking cigars & drinking bourbon.
When I was a teenager, I met "on the waterfront" screenwriter Budd Schulberg and I asked him how he writes 6 days a week, 8 to 10 hours a day and he went off on me... lol. He saw himself as a blue collar worker, no different than a mailman.
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You're not going to catch a wave if you don't get in the water. I show up to the desk every day; sometimes in makes it and sometimes it doesn't. But the times that it makes it!
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CJ: They are blessed indeed. I've written first draft scripts in a week while in an upward spiral and then was mentally exhausted the next week. Currently, my biggest issue is eye strain from working on the computer for too long.
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Dan M: I totally agree. I always love reading posts from writers with one or two scripts that expect to be signed by an agent after a few query letters. I have cigars but don't drink bourbon and don't like cabins. I'd love to have a second home on the beach in Galveston but the only roadblock is money.
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Discipline for sure. For me on the other hand when I get into it I go hard and then I need to give my mind some rest. Because when I am writing I am literally picturing and acting out the characters and scenes in my head. Gotta break away from the Mello schizophrenic moments hahaha
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Phillip E. Hardy, Prolifique, eye strain is a tough one. I got my eyes lasered last year and that seemed to help.
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I find that I have way to many irons in the fire - I'm loosing sight of what I really want to be. Writing comes & goes, then sometimes I'm into Producing, then maybe Directing. Right now I'm deep into Editing. When I say deep - I mean REALLY DEEP. In the meantime, I got a couple of music videos and a pretty big music documentary on Aug 4th. It would be nice if I could just pick one & stay with it. I'm like the dog in 'UP' - every time a squirrel comes by - I'm off & running.
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I think it depends if you have another job that takes most of your time or not. I have many ideas, but the most important thing is to give myself a deadline to finish what I am doing. Time doesn't stretch, and it usually comes at a cost.
"Currently, my biggest issue is eye strain from working on the computer for too long." Phillip E. Hardy, Prolifique, I heard someone say look away from the screen every so often. Look around the room for a certain amount of time, then go back to writing. That will help with eye strain.