Have you ever...?

ShannonR. said:

Just out of curiosity, have any of you ever:
1) lost interest in a project you haven't finished writing yet but instead started on another idea you had before, or
2) been thinking about something for your current project (that is going well) that inspired you to start something completely different?

I'm in that boat now...I've gotten kind of 'stuck' on the one of the projects I've been working on, but another movie I read about (in a screenwriting book, interestingly) reminded me of a story idea that had been lying dormant for over a year. Has anyone ever put aside one uncompleted project to start another one on the fly like that? Or just said, this story's not working for me so I'll put it aside and revisit it later? I wasn't sure if this was some form of writers' block or if it was 'normal'.

I know I ask a lot of questions but this industry and type of work seems to be drastically different from anything I've done before, so I'm not at all sure what 'normal' or 'common' is, or if I'm doing something wrong.

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First off, Shannon, throw out 'normal.' What works for you is what works for you!

Second, ask as many questions as you like! Asking is the best way to learn

Next, I'd recommend sticking with your current project and seeing it thru to the end. Discipline is a big part of writing, and if you can't keep your mind set on one project to the end, you'll never complete anything.

If you've become completely bored with the story and no longer want anything to do with it, that's different. Then I'd recommend carrying on with your next idea. If not, table the new idea (jot it down in a notebook, create a word document, just save it somehow) and complete what you currently have in front of you.

Hope this helps

ShannonR. said:

Just out of curiosity, have any of you ever:
1) lost interest in a project you haven't finished writing yet but instead started on another idea you had before, or
2) been thinking about something for your current project (that is going well) that inspired you to start something completely different?

I'm in that boat now...I've gotten kind of 'stuck' on the one of the projects I've been working on, but another movie I read about (in a screenwriting book, interestingly) reminded me of a story idea that had been lying dormant for over a year. Has anyone ever put aside one uncompleted project to start another one on the fly like that? Or just said, this story's not working for me so I'll put it aside and revisit it later? I wasn't sure if this was some form of writers' block or if it was 'normal'.

I know I ask a lot of questions but this industry and type of work seems to be drastically different from anything I've done before, so I'm not at all sure what 'normal' or 'common' is, or if I'm doing something wrong.

Click to expand...

Sure. I've started things and just run dry on them. Sometimes I've started something, run dry, gone back to it, run dry again, finally just given up on it.

In fact, I'm working on something now that I started so long ago that when I went back to try to find the original pages -- they were gone. Couldn't even find them.

And I'm sure that some of the things I started I'll never go back to.

That's the way it works sometimes. It sounds like a great idea. You start writing it. Turns out it wasn't so great. Not so special. Oh, well. On to something else.

Now, of course, if you find that you're just doing that over and over and over again - then that's a problem. But to occasionally set something aside.

Sure. I do that. Sometimes what seems like a really fruitful idea in your head, once you get to the page -- not so much. Ideas can surprise you that way sometimes.

So it goes.

NMS

It's normal for me. I have about half a dozen plays at various stages (pardon the pun) at the moment, and some of them go back three years or more. Some are partly written, where others are still being developed in my head, and my main work has been poring over the source material (several of them are adaptations).

My playwriting projects are a personal passion at this point, so there's no pressure other than that I put on myself. If you're trying to make a living out of it, there comes a point you have to just make yourself finish something.

Thirty-five too old? Don't say that. I'm 34 meself, and I feel I've hardly started to find my feet in my writing career!

I've made a few inroads into nonfiction, but I'd love to have a proper stab at fiction and playwriting.

What sort of thing are you working on?

Well, there's always the second act doldrums. That wasteland where screenplays go to die. That red hot idea that got me excited, the fantastic start, and then... the second act sort of stumbles along. I get discouraged. I have two ways to deal with that.

The first, is to just skip to the end. Yeah, write the big finish. Skip right over all that stuff in the middle. Why? Because it might jar the middle loose. Sometimes, when you have this great ending waiting - it suggests elements that you didn't see while you were wandering the second act wasteland.

The second thing I do - especially when I've got this great premise - hot idea - but no 'ending', and the script goes cold... Is to 'set it aside'. Yup. It's not 'done'. It's incomplete. It's in the drawer/on the disk somewhere. Because I plan to finish it later.

One script I've written - a coming of age Christmas story - took me almost fourteen years to write. Honest. I put it away after the first act - and it languished for about twelve years. Then I pulled it out, and started writing on it. The PLOT idea was the same, but the THEME had changed, because my life had changed. That script has won numerous awards, and is currently in the hands of a ProCo with a development deal. I should know in a couple of weeks if they're interested.

Most recently, I started a Western. It's a TERRIFIC concept, got into the first act - got seduced by a different idea. Put the Western aside, and wrote this action script in a fever - two months. It has won some awards, gotten some heat. Picked up the Western at the first of the year - pushed on with it for another fifteen pages - set it aside and wrote a TV Spec script. Then I novelized one of my other scripts. Now I'm rewriting a RomCom that has some interest - but the Western... is still waiting. It's a good story idea. Some really interesting characters.

I WILL finish it.

There's a balance between being seduced by the Muse, and having the discipline to put in your BTUs - Butt Time Units and just get the damn thing done. I promise myself if I set something aside - I will finish the new project AND finish the original at some point.

Everyone has to find their own work flow and discipline. Maybe it's pages or words a day. Maybe it's a strict schedule. Whatever works for you - works for you. But I do know that it's EASIER to REwrite something - than write it. And the 'real' writing is done in the Re-Writing. So there's something to be said for the old adage "Don't get it right - get it written".

Every scene should advance the plot and/or illuminate character. If it doesn't - cut it. You could write an entire movie about a dinner - in fact it's been done. You're right in recognizing it as a 'placeholder'.
Sometimes, when I get to a vague scene - I know where I'm going - but I need some sort of transition scene - I'll literally type in a 'placeholder' description. "This is the dinner where we find out his mother hated him as a child, and she has a secret crush on the boss, and also has an allergic reaction to shellfish" - and then skip on to the next scene.

That's just one way to handle it. Your workflow is your own. Some folks will outline the entire script that way - And THEN sit down to write out the script. That's not my way - but it works for a lot of people. Some people need to have a roadmap outline before they feel comfortable creating the script. Some people like to work with a vague idea for a direction, and be surprised by the process.

I've learned to stop writing for the day - BEFORE I'm finished. That is, before I've run out of steam or energy. Sometimes, I'll literally stop in the middle of a scene that has a real killer ending that I'm dying to write. (And not likely to forget). That way, when I sit down to write - the pump is primed. I'm ready to go, and it's off to the races.

Another good piece of advice to remember in a scene - come in as late as possible, and leave as early as possible. Get in, get out, get on with it. The point is, either way - YOU ARE GOING TO REWRITE IT. Many, many times. "Don't get it right, get it written". Sure, use the place holder, skip that scene, keep moving till you get to the end.

Then - you start to REwrite the script.

As a filmmaker, when I edit a documentary - often times I'll have a fantastic shot or sequence that I want to end the film with. I put the beginning down on the timeline - then I put the ENDING on the timeline - there's space in between where I start stacking up the scenes to cut it together. Having the ending IN PLACE, helps me find a direction and arc for placing the other clips.

Now, it's ENTIRELY possible, that in the process of editing and cutting the film together, I'll be hit with an insight - and find that a different clip will work better in the end - that the piece of film I thought was the ending, really should set up the third act.

And that's okay. It's important to be flexible. Writing and Editing Film have that element in common. In fact, the editor of a documentary, is the 'writer'.

Yeah. You're over thinking. Get it written. If you have a scene that's simply "They eat dinner" and move on - that's fine. By the time you get to the end - you may find that scene isn't even needed. That's part of writing.

Write.