Sometimes it’s all about how you approach work. The mindset you have when you begin tackling something, especially something new, can make all the difference.
Today I tried to make a couple quick drafts of a screenplay. Nothing long, nothing fancy, just a first attempt to see how it went. I won’t sugarcoat it. It was painful.
I found myself fighting the format. The editor’s voice in the back of my head was shouting so hard I thought he might need a cup of tea by the end of the day. And I just couldn’t get a head of steam going to make the words come out. Things were not looking good.
So I tried a new approach. I decided I’d first draft a quick story. No formatting. No restrictions. Just words. If I couldn’t write a screenplay from scratch, maybe I could adapt one from something else. I took my quick story and then adapted it into a short screenplay.
This, it turns out, is how I work. And now I know how I work.
And I shouldn’t have been surprised. Of course it makes more sense to create in the mode you know, and then adjust the outcome to fit the mold required. Once I’d figured this out, everything just clicked for me.
So now I know how I will tackle this screenwriting challenge. I’ll first draft the story. Once I’m happy with it, only then will I adapt it into a screenplay. I think this will work best for me. At least for the purposes of this challenge.
Only thing left now is to wait. In just a few hours, the challenge will commence, and the assignments will be emailed out to the participants. I’ll have eight days to write a short screenplay no longer than 12 pages. Should be fun!