Weekend Writing Inspiration: Make Your Script Your Main Thing

“Can you give me some tips about how I can possibly get my screenplay finished when I have so many other things on my plate?”

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When you’re juggling life, the Universe, and everything — plus writing — it can be incredibly hard to keep your focus on getting your screenplay done. There are just so many competing demands for our time.

On the personal side, kids, family, pets, self-care, health issues, exercise, citizenship, finances, paperwork, home management, and more lay claim to your time (anyone else have a backlogged stack of paperwork, or is that just me?). And on the professional side, there’s social media, marketing, pitching, platform building, studying the craft, side projects, building relationship connections, and more, along with lots of noise telling you how critical and important each and everyone one of those are too. Plus there are any day job demands you’re managing, and possibly having your hand in multiple screenplays… it can be bewildering and overwhelming to know where to put your attention and time on any given day.

As a result, screenwriting falls to the bottom of the heap all too often and we spend our days feeling out of integrity and disappointed in ourselves and in life. Writers who aren’t writing walk through life with a low level of guilt, angst, and anxiety, even as they’re telling us and themselves they’re too busy to write.

Let’s get this sorted out right now.

Make your script your main thing

With all these competing demands in life, start by getting crystal clear on what’s most important to you, and resolve to make that happen. We simply cannot do everything, despite what “they” tell us about having it all. Something has to give. Sacrifices must be made. You might have to cut back on downtime or sleep or perfection in other areas of your life in order to write (though I’d much rather have you give up Facebook swiping or TV than downtime or sleep).

The first thing to do is to make your screenwriting your top priority, and keep it that way. As author Stephen Covey says, “the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing."

In the business world, coach Tara McMullin of CoCommercial calls this your “chief initiative” — the notion that you have one primary project you’re focused on and are committed to completing — your eyes are on that prize, and that prize only.

In screenwriting terms, this means you know, with 100% clarity, you’re working on one screenplay and one screenplay only until it’s done. (See my other article, “Staying Motivated” for more on defining what “done” means.) And once you’ve made your decision, you stick with it like a big kid trying to keep his favorite Legos away from his little brother.

Even if you’re working on multiple screenwriting assignments, you’ll still want to know which screenplay comes first, move it to completion, and then toggle over to the next one.

Put writing first in the day

Once you’re clear on which screenplay is your top priority, make sure working on it is a “given” each day. You might then pick out additional extra tasks you prioritize for that day, but writing comes first, as your baseline.

The easiest way to do this is to write at your first available opportunity each day.

For many writers, this means writing when we wake up, before we do anything else, even if it’s only for a short while. This is an affirmation to yourself and your life’s calling that you’re doing the work you were put here to do, first.

For others of us, our first available opportunity might not be until our lunch break at the day job, especially if we have to get up at o’dark hundred to get to work. Or possibly even in the evening. Or right before bed time.

The important thing is to do it, regardless of when it happens in the day, and to move to writing as quickly and directly as possible.

Be creative, resourceful, and a little bit ruthless

The core idea here is to have a place for writing in your day, and then do everything within your power to make sure it happens, because, after all, it is your main thing. Pay attention to days that might go sideways on you, and instead of giving up, get creative about how you can find a way to write anyway — and get a little ruthless about it.

Think about knocking obstacles out of your way with your powerful intention to get to your desk and get the words on the page, even if that looks like you scribbling on index cards in a café on your lunch hour, crawling into your bed with your laptop late at night after the kids are asleep, or setting your alarm to get up early to write even if you have to have an early morning chat with yourself about how important it is to get up and write, even when the siren call of more sleep tries to lull you to stay in bed.

What about everything else?

And yeah… what about all that other Life Stuff? First, recognize your to do list will never end and you will never be “done,” so there’s no point in trying to finish “everything” before you give yourself time to write. Better to establish screenwriting as your foundation — that idea of a given — and then layer other tasks in on top.

Think of writing like brushing your teeth or eating — it’s something you do every day, no matter what. (See my article on building a writing habit for more on this subject.)

Then, give yourself up to two to three additional tasks to tackle in a day — your next tier of work beyond your givens.

Limiting yourself to three tasks helps you be realistic about what you can accomplish, and makes them more likely to be actually attainable, which will help you feel the sense of satisfaction of a day well-lived — in terms of both screenwriting and task completion. Most importantly of all, you’ll know when you’re done for the day and can full enjoy some well earned down time.

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Your Weekend Writer’s Assignment

Take a little time this weekend and get clear on 1) the primary screenwriting project you want to put all your efforts toward completing — your “main thing,” 2) creative strategies you can employ to help yourself be just a little ruthless about making sure your writing happens, no matter what, and 3) the two to three next tasks you want to focus on moving to completion too, while keeping writing as your baseline foundation.

Happy writing!