Inspiration

More on writing. I spoke with an ex-student recently, who asked a lot of questions about staying inspired when writing a feature length script. He told me he found it hard to stay inspired as it took him over a year to write a first draft. He asked how do you stay inspired and keep things fresh. He also asked how do you know when to move on to something else and abandon ship, or keep staying the course.

All good questions. Many ways to answer. Let's start with the idea and you. You, meaning, what types of films do you like? You should write what you like, and try and write what you know. Many first time writers have an inspiration problem sometimes halfway into the script, and it's because of these two reasons; they are writing something they know very little of, and perhaps they're writing something to sell, and they don't really feel it.

For example, I like to watch character driven films, so obviously that's what I like to write and make. I have tried writing plot driven scripts, and always get bored or a headache somewhere in the middle, or in a second draft. Why? Because it's really not what I'm passionate about. I enjoy from time to time a great plot driven film to watch, but not to write. It never feels right. So that's one tip; write what you're passionate about, and more than likely you'll run into less problems.

Another big tip is to always and I mean always write the first draft as quickly as possible. Like six weeks or less. Just get it out. Then let it sit, and then it's rewrite after rewrite.

Getting back to writing about something you know, this is a sure way to stay inspired. When you write stories about people or actions you know nothing of, like hit men and mafia crap, or course you're going to run into problems. Where are the ideas coming from? They're not coming from personal experience, so at some point, your well is going to run dry. So write what you know. Write what you like.

And lastly, to be very frank, you are writing because you LOVE to write. So it's your job to stay inspired. Create good habits. Write every day. Write every morning. Be very workman like, or work woman like. Push yourself. Dig deep. Good things will come.