The great news is you started your screenplay. Good job, writer. You’re probably pretty close to finishing a first draft. Maybe you’re halfway through.

Sorta.

Or perhaps you’ve written four hundred and twenty-three drafts. But it’s still not done. Why?

Well, here’s a few things to help you get across the finish line:

 

You’re not close enough to it.

 

If you haven’t been working on your script enough, your screenplay will become unfamiliar. Every time you go back to it, you will have to reacquaint yourself with where you left off. If your relationship to your script is spotty, you lose momentum and awareness of where your development stands. By taking extended breaks away from your script, you end up losing the hard work you’re putting into it. In many crucial ways, you forget what you’re writing.

Stay intimate with your script daily, if only for short chunks of time. This will make for progressive, efficient development.

 

Someone said it sucks.

 

Did you get some bad notes? Did they hurt? Sometimes I get feedback, and it makes me stop writing. I know we’re not supposed to do that, but it can be really discouraging to receive feedback that seems to rob us our spirit to create.

It’s okay to take a day off, but if you can focus on the principle that good things can come from all criticism, you might see a glimmer of how the notes can help you. Either way, open your screenplay and read it. Find something to tweak. Change a word. Remember why it’s special to you and know that you’re not alone and keep moving your fingers.

 

It really sucks.

 

There’s a billion things wrong with your screenplay! And the beautiful thing is—–you know it. Ha! What’s great is you’re not lying to yourself. This awareness underlies the development of a successful screenplay.

Just pick one thing you can work on and fix it. See the progress. Then move on to the next. Fix the easily fixable and stay in the zone. See your improvements and move on to the next area you need to rewrite. Soon you will see your greatest work begin to emerge.

 

I want to work on another idea!

 

When you’re deep into the development of your screenplay, a brand-new idea for a movie can be quite a seductive proposition. You might even take some time to start working on the new idea, and this can make it even harder for you to stick with the screenplay you haven’t finished.

Stay with the script you’ve been working on, and soon it will have the brand-new feeling again. If you go to the new idea, you will find yourself at the same juncture again, and your career will be in a loop.

 

I don’t know how it ends.

 

If you don’t have an ending to your screenplay, your screenplay isn’t done. Someone once said that the ending is half your movie. This is true. It might be the most difficult thing to crack. Some writers won’t start a script without knowing how it ends, but in the name of humanity, this is not practical and might lack courage.

Be grateful for rewriting your screenplay and focus on your first act. Be honest with where characters fall short in their depth in the face of others. Make sure everything is logical——implausible plot decisions create bad endings. Work principally on your story with the basic laws of emotional storytelling and your finale will arrive.

 

You’re scared to finish it.

 

When you finish a screenplay, people might read it. This could be an uncomfortable proposition. What if they read it and it’s not good? What if it doesn’t make sense? What if it proves that writing this screenplay was a dumb idea?

What if people read it and they don’t care at all? What if the movie is produced and the audiences ignores it?

What if your movie is a success and brings attention and you get everything you ever wanted? That might be frightening as well.

If you are called to write a screenplay, do not fear. Writing a screenplay is never a mistake. I have finished screenplays and trust me, it will be okay.

In fact, you will want to do it again.

 

 

SUBMIT YOUR SCREENPLAY