Screenwriting : Write, or talk about writing by James Gale

Hey, since you're in to math, maybe you've seen this cartoon. No recollection of where it's from, but it's of a mathematician working out this really complicated theorem on a chalk board. There are numbers, integrals, crazy equations scribbled... then toward the end of his solution he's written in "then a miracle happens", and finally "x = 2" (or whatever). I often think of that cartoon when I'm writing my Act 2. The screenplay often feels like: Act 1 ... then a miracle happens ... Act 3 You know? Also I wanted to add that I have no sympathy for you procrastinator types. You wouldn't catch me wasting time on some Web forum when I should be writing. Ahem. Anything else you wanted to talk about?

That's what I'm doing right now. Yeah, it's um... mental preparation. :)

So true.

There's no need to write 24/7. We can have social lives and write outside of our projects. I stop to eat, sleep , do household chores and run errands as well as work. It doesn't have to be called procrastination or avoidance. We are allowed lives outside of screenwriting.

Your totally right, but as a writer it took me a long time to realise when i was most functional. Procrastinating i believe is part of the process. After three months of hating myself for not doing much writing during the day i realised i worked better in the mornings. So i woke up super early and worked till 12pm in the afternoon. All we got to understand is ourselves in the writing process.

I'd argue the audience is the most important part of the industry.

If nothing gets written, what gets funded and what is there to watch? ~t

Yeah. James this site does break the mundane of skill and essence making one playful to the craft.

Yeah - you are right! I continually do web research on "how to finish your screenplay" and I am stuck at the moment. I think the distraction will hopefully lead me to an epiphany on my ending... crossing fingers. lol

Ami, open a thread here for help with your ending. This crew loves that sort of thing. :)

@Ami: do you know how your screenplay ends? And how the characters get there? If so, commit to writing just one page a day and it will be finished soon. If not, stop googling and stop writing and sit down and just figure out what your story is first.

Yeah, thanks guys. I have a great ending, but there is a gap that I have to finish to connect it all up. I know it's in there, in my brain, just getting it down and making sense of it all. I don't want to fill the gap with unnecessary info, I need to elaborate a bit and find a good connection. Thanks, any suggestions would be helpful too. I've done the outline thing and the plot is good and connected - it's just the dialog where it's missing the mark. You know what I mean??

If that's the case, just write it. Set yourself deadlines and page targets to meet and get it written. Rewriting and making it better is much easier (at least for me) than getting it down on the page first time. Don't expect it to work first time. As the great Ernest Hemingway said: "The first draft of everything is shit."

Thanks for that Chas. I know I should just write something, even if it's shit to start with. At least it will be finished and I can then start to refine it more. Getting those last few scenes seem to be the HARDEST thing ever! Arrgh! I'll do it by this weekend and let you know how it goes! Thanks so much.

Yep, deadlines are a great motivator. So it accountability. Tell a friend what your targets are, and get them to hold you to it.