I am notoriously bad at staying on track. It’s probably something undiagnosed, or just the fact that a linking cursor haunts my dreams.
Writing a screenplay is often described as staring into an abyss. And I have to agree. Between ideation and writer’s block, it can get exhausting.
It’s s much easier to put on a movie, leave it for another day, or go outside.
Procrastination has probably killed more great movies than studio development, so how do you get past it?
Director Anthony DiBlasi sat down with Film Courage to discuss how he battles his own tendencies toward procrastination and the specific “cheat codes” he uses to get to the finish line.
I found them useful, so I’m bringing them to you here.
Let’s dive in.
– YouTube www.youtube.com
1. The Power of the Calendar (and the 30-Day Deadline)
In the video, DiBlasi admits that he wasn’t always a disciplined writer. He had to learn his own flaws and find ways to combat them.
I actually think that’s one the most important lessons a writer can confront. Know where you were lacking and find the tools to handle it.
His most effective tool? The Calendar.
If you write without a deadline, you’ll write forever. DiBlasi suggests setting a concrete goal, like finishing a script in 30 days, and then reverse-engineering the math. We have a whole course to finish a screenplay in 10 weeks.
- The Math: If you want a 120-page script in 30 days, you need to write roughly 4-6 pages a day.
- The Commitment: Write down exactly which pages you will tackle on which dates (e.g., Day 1: Pages 1-6; Day 2: Pages 7-12).
Even if you have a bad day and only finish two pages, having that schedule forces your brain to acknowledge the deficit and find time to make it up later.
It keeps you motivated and on track.
2. Write Out of Order to Stop Procrastination
Look, I suggest our story map to keep you on track. That’s because one of the biggest traps in screenwriting is the “this one sentence has to be perfect” pitfall.
DiBlasi notes that it’s easy to spend eight hours on a single sentence because your brain refuses to move on until it’s “perfect.”
Well, get rid of that notion, and if you get stuck, just jump ahead.
Write the scenes where you know what happens and let them fall into the assembly later.
This keeps the momentum going and prevents a single difficult transition from derailing your entire progress for the week.
Managing the “Writer/Director” Duality
We get a lot of writer/directors on this site, and I find this to be very hard for them. DiBlasi offers a crucial piece of advice to help those multi-faceted individuals: You must be able to wear different hats independently.
When he moves from writing to directing, he “throws the script out.” He treats the screenplay as if he didn’t write it, focusing only on what is important for the story in the moment with the actors on set.
The same applies to the edit. He argues that you have to let go of the “baggage” of production. If it doesn’t make the movie better, it has to go, regardless of how much effort it took to capture or how many days were spent on it.
Summing It All Up
As you can see, all these elements are all skewed to help you not only finish your spec script, but also get it done in a timely manner so you can take it out on the town and try to sell it.
Hopefully, they get your butt in gear and get your thoughts coming out onto the page.
Let me know what you think in the comments,
