SCREENWRITING TIPS
Ten Ideas for Curing Writer's Block
So you've read your Syd Field, you've mapped out your plot points and your entire screenplay has been catalogued on a stack of index cards. Nothing to do now but write the script. But you find yourself staring at your blank screen, unable to write. Maybe you've lost interest in your idea - maybe it wasn't such a good idea to begin with.
Or maybe you need a fresh approach. Here are ten suggestions for re-igniting that creative spark.
1. TURN ON THE CD PLAYER
A few years back, some researchers published the results of a study which suggested that listening to classical music makes people smarter. Though the report was widely misunderstood, leading to many newborns at the time being bombarded by Beethoven, there seems to be something to the notion that listening to classical music stimulates brain activity.
At least, I've found that I do my best writing with something classical in the background. On the occasions when I've had pop or rock music playing, I've found my writing to be dull and much less satisfying. I don't know why, exactly -- all I know is that it seems to work.
2. PUT AWAY THE NOTE-CARDS
If you're following the methods of the numerous books on screenwriting, you've already mapped out the entire story on index cards, one card for each scene. You know where the story is going, what will happen, and how it will all end, right? Good.
Now ignore the cards for a while. Forget what the cards say should happen in the next scene. Write whatever comes naturally from the characters and events you've already written.
If you don't like it, you can change it later. The point now is getting your ideas into writing. Try it.
3. THROW OUT YOUR CHARACTER BIOS
Screenwriting books usually recomend writing out the full life's story for your major characters, whether it pertains to the story you're telling or not. Personally, I find these biographies feel like something out of an Intro to Psychology class. Perhaps the better writers can avoid the dull and pedestrian traps of "ABC from his childhood equals XYZ in adult life", but I can't.
Try getting to know your main characters the same way you get to know your friends and acquaintances. What they say and do now in a given situation says more about who they are than anything that might have happened in the past. If a childhood event is significant in your character's present situation, it will be revealed when it needs to be. You may be surprised to discover things about your character that you would never have thought to put in a brief life story.
4. RETURN TO THE SOURCE
Before you started writing, before you created characters and labeled your plot points and mapped out your storyline, there was The Idea. Remember it? Recall that moment when something you read, saw, experienced, heard, jolted your brain with the thought, "That would make a great movie".
Now, how well does your current story reflect that brief, electric moment? Sometimes we get so caught up in the mechanics of storytelling we forget why we wanted to tell the story in the first place. Get that moment back and make sure you're really telling the story you want to tell.
5. TRY A CHANGE OF STYLE
If you're still stuck, set aside the screenplay for a while and write your story as a story. Choose a character and write it in the first person. You'll learn new things about the character once he or she begins telling your story from his or her own perspective.