Transcripts
1. 44 Ways to Write Fast + Finish Your Story Intro: Hi, I'm on Nila, a writer with produced films, TV shows, and other
published works. Over the past 16 years, I've written many stories. I also teach creative
writing and screenwriting, and I have many
friends and students tell me that they have ideas,
but they're not writers. They're just idea people, and I'm here to tell you
that's Excuse my language, but anybody can write if
they put their mind to it. So I wanted to create a course
in all the ways that have help me write consistently
over the past 16 years. This course is here
to help you to stop finding excuses and
start producing results. These lessons are made to
inspire you to write and stick to your deadlines
until your story is done. All of these ways have helped me write even when I
don't feel like it. So if you have an
idea for a story, and you want to help
writing it until it's finished, then let's begin. Also, if you're interested in one on one coaching sessions, I'd love to help you during
your creative process to make sure your
project gets finished. If you're interested, you
can book a session on Skillshare using their
new super pure feature. To book a coaching session, click on my skill show
profile and click Book Now. These coaching sessions can be weekly or bi weekly,
whichever you prefer. I offer coaching sessions on
writing movies, TV shows, web series, producing
your own film or series, and much more. I can coach you once a week or every two weeks to
make sure you stay on track and create the
accountability you need to finish your
story and project. Contact me to book your
first session now. Also, this summer, I'm hosting a summer screenplay course
where I'll be teaching students how to write
a movie in one season. I've spent many summers over the past 17 years writing
summer screenplays, where I write the
first draft of a movie during the summer season
where I am in America. And starting June
20 to September 19, I'll be teaching and hosting 60 minute teaching sessions with groups of students on Zoom, teaching several students
how to write a screenplay. You'll be responsible for
writing about ten pages a week, and I'll guide you to keep
your story moving forward. This course costs $395. And by September 19, you'll have a finished draft of a feature film screenplay. Once a week, we'll meet, and I'll be giving instructions
on story structure. And we'll be
interacting with each other to see where our
stories are going. Talking out your story and
your writing helps immensely. And having a group of writers who are along the journey with you creates amazing
accountability and discipline. If you're interested, please reach out to me before
the end of May. You can e mail me at Jordan
period imola@gmail.com. That's JOR DN, period
mila@gmail.com. I'd love to help you write
a screenplay this summer. Also, my website
offers services like script coverage and links to my podcast and other courses. Now, back to your regularly
scheduled course.
2. How to Get Started - Ways 1 - 6: Right out of order. Who said you have to write
a story in order? I don't think of scenes
or plot points in order, so I tend to write them as
they arrive in my brain. Whenever I'm writing
a new movie, I'll write 90 pages,
not in order. Then when I reach 90 pages, I'll start to put scenes in order or cut scenes
that no longer work. Writing out of order lets me be more creative and
not restrict myself. This also keeps it fun for me. When I'm writing
just for myself, I try to hit a page count because it's just for me and I'm not sharing
it with anyone, I can hit my daily page count and it doesn't matter
how I get there. I can fix it eventually. I can think of more scenes as I rewrite them and smooth
out my pages and story. I'll often use a line like this to indicate to myself that this is a new scene that does not go in order from
the last scene. Number two, make realistic
goals and stick to them. Don't tell yourself
you're going to write 50 pages in a week if you've
never done that before. Instead, make small
realistic goals that you know you can stick to, such as writing one page a day. Sure, it's only one page, but it's better than nothing. After 30 days, you'll
have 30 pages. If you think realistically, you can do two pages a day, then do that, but don't
try to overwhelm yourself. My grandma once
told me that every day she writes a list
of things to do, and she's lucky if she
gets half that list done. But she's still proud of
those things she did. Don't tell yourself
you're going to do a lot if you know you're
not going to do that. Big lists become overwhelming. Instead, make your list smaller and be proud of
those accomplishments. For me, writing five pages
a day is pretty doable. Again, I first write
those out of order. But I'm also a very
experienced writer. If you're just getting started, five pages a day might
be too much to chew. Maybe aim for one, two, or three pages a day for now. Have a goal and page count that's realistic and
comfortable for you. Speaking of page count. Let's look at number three. Dedicate a daily page count. Just write till you
reach the amount of pages you set for the day. For me, I say five
pages is doable. It's not too much for me
and it's not too little. If you write five pages
a day for 20 days, then you'll reach 100 pages. If you want to do
two pages a day, then it might take you 50
days to write 100 pages. But that's still only
a month and 20 days. Number four, have a dedicated
notebook for your story. I always have a notebook handy with me for the story
I'm working on. I go through about three
to five notebooks a year, and there's just something
more human about writing free hand compared
to typing on a computer. We'll talk about how to
get less distracted later. But a notebook dedicated to my story keeps me from
being distracted. Last night, I had one idea for a horror comedy
I'm currently writing, and I wrote that idea down
in my dedicated notebook. Then another idea
came to my head. Within 15 minutes, I
had three pages written of new ideas that got me
excited for my story. A notebook is also great for times that you're not
feeling inspired. Sometimes when I'm not
in the mood to write, I'll just look
over past ideas in my notebook and then
looking over my old ideas, my brain will feel
inspired again. Number five, the five
minute a day rule. This is one of my favorites and something that
helps me so much. Promise yourself to
write 5 minutes a day, even if it's the last thing
you do before you go to bed. You never know what will
spark in 5 minutes. Many times, 5 minutes can become much longer
if inspiration hits. This will also keep your
story in your mind every day. There are many days when I'm tired and I don't
feel like writing, but I'll sit down
and tell myself, it's only 5 minutes. I'll open my story notebook
or the story on my computer and tell myself for
the next 5 minutes, I'll just work on this. Sometimes my brain is too fried to think of something
good for the story. But most of the time, I'll think of something
to add to my story. Either way, I never regret sitting down and writing
for those 5 minutes. Number six, sit your
dup down and write. Yes, I could say sit
your *** down and write, but I think Dupa is funnier. Again, it's a word my
grandma used to use. So this principle
may seem obvious, but sometimes people
need to hear this. If you want to write, you got to sit your dupi down and write. Most people don't write standing up and you're not
writing if you're watching TV or if you're hanging out with
friends and partying. We'll talk about how to create accountability and discipline
for yourself later. But the first step to
writing is always to sit your dupi down in a chair and dedicate
yourself to writing. If you need help making
writing fun once you sit down, we'll talk about how to
make writing fun next.
3. Have Fun With Writing- Ways 7- 12: Have fun writing. Number seven, find ways to have fun and find the ritual
that helps you write. Sometimes when inspiration is there and you're feeling it, writing is super fun. But other times you
have to make it fun. Sometimes we put too much
pressure on ourselves, and that pressure
doesn't help creativity. In fact, it kills
creativity altogether. I write out of order first
because it makes it more fun for me and you need to find ways that
make it fun for you, especially at those times, you don't feel like writing. Playing music in the background as you write can often help. Shonda Rhimes uses headphones
whenever she writes. I often create music
playlist to listen to that correlate to the
type of story I'm writing. I once wrote a screenplay about three college kids
who become superheroes, but only had their powers
when they're high. This movie is
called Super stone. I created playlist with
songs all about smoking pot. This kept it fun for me. Another way to keep it fun is
find a favorite coffee shop or a location that could become your designated
writing spot. My favorite spot is a coffee
shop called Spa Coffee. I go there, my job is to write and not think
about anything else. Just write. Feel free to brainstorm ways to keep
writing fun for you, and then do those things. Number eight, write your ideas down as soon as
you think of them. When you have an idea that
you love for your story, the more time that
goes by from when you thought of the idea to
when you write it down, the higher the chance
of it being forgotten, or your brain won't quite
remember it the exact same way. Can't tell you the number
of times I thought of a joke or a line of
dialogue for my story, but I didn't write it down
right there and then. Then later that day
or the next day, I tried to recall it, but I couldn't remember
it word for word. The idea or dialogue
was better when I first thought of it than it was when I tried to recall it. If you have a good idea, write it down as soon
as you think of it. Since we're all
gluoarphones these days, you can write it down
on your phone or even better if you're carrying your story notebook
with you at all times, like I do, write it in
that notebook verbatim. Number nine, use a corkboard and index cards to
plot out your story. Write down ideas for different scenes on
different index cards. If you've watched my course, write a movie in 14 days, you see me do this, and I
learned this from the book, save the CT by Blake Snyder. But a lot of writing rooms
and TV use this too. Plotting scenes or ideas down on index cards makes it more fun. I often use different
color index cards. Using different
colors keeps it fun. Sometimes a certain color will correlate to a certain
character or story line. But usually when I'm
first writing the story, I just grab a random
index card from the pack. If you're writing a movie, usually most movies have
40 scenes, give or take. But before I start
writing my movie, I always have about 40 index
cards on my corkboard. As you fill your board
with index cards. You can also move
around the index cards to figure out your scene order. Number ten, the rule of ten. If I'm stuck on a plot
point or a scene, I'll take out a sheet of paper or write in my
story notebook and brainstorm ten things that could happen to my characters
within this scene. I usually draw a brainstorm
cloud like this. I think my fourth grade teacher taught me this, and it
just stuck with me. A lot of comedians do
this with jokes, too. When they need a
joke, they'll write down ten variations
of that joke. Then they pick the best one.
When I'm stuck on a scene, I'll write down ten
different things. Most of the ten things
I write are awful. Maybe three are usable, but usually one stands
out as the clear winner. Then I'll take that one
idea and run with it. I use the rule of ten all the time when I'm unsure
about something, and just need to clear my head to find the idea that works. Even when I was trying to
find a title for this course, I brainstormed ten
different titles, and the ninth one was
the one I like the most. Number 11, don't
aim for perfect. Aiming for perfect will never help you because there's
no such thing as perfect. I'm stuck, I often
remind myself, don't let perfect be
the enemy of good. This always helps
me move forward. When I try to make
a story perfect, it makes me second guess too much and I can't move forward. But if you just aim for good, then it allows your
brain to think more clearly and
take more chances. I write a lot of movies, and there's no such thing
as a perfect movie. They might be to you,
but not to everyone. Some people think the
Godfather is a perfect movie, but others think it's super
outdated and way too long. A lot of people love star wars, but a lot of people
don't like Star Wars. Perfect is a matter of opinion, and you'll never be able
to satisfy everyone. Don't try to do that. Just try to satisfy yourself
as best you can. Number 12, write the
bones, flesh it out later. Don't expect a first
draft to be perfect. It'll be far from perfect. But most first drafts of a story have the
bones of the story. By this, I mean the essence
and structure of a story, and what happens to
your main characters. In later drafts,
you'll punch it up, make characters more unique, tighten relationships, and really flesh
out the story more. Remember, things can change. Remembering this will
help you keep it fun. I will often write a terrible scene to get to the next scene. Especially if I'm
writing a first draft, I know it's okay to write crap because the first draft
should be just for you. My first drafts are just for me. I'll show people
the second draft after I fix the crap later. But for the first draft, I just focus on the bones.
4. Create Accountability and Writing Discipline - Ways1 13 - 18: Wting is fun, a
lot of the times. But sometimes when
you're struggling, you need to find ways to stay focused in order to reach
the end of your story. When you need to stay focused, try these. Number 13. Put your mind in jail. Don't literally commit a crime, but put your mind in jail. This is a tip I
learned from the book, The Happiness Project
by Gretchen Rubin. Putting your mind in jail means knowing that
you have nowhere to go and nothing to do except getting the task done
in front of you. By telling yourself,
I'm in jail. You can't have access
to the outside world. It's just you and
the words you're going to write. Think
about it like this. If you were in jail,
you wouldn't have Internet or e mail or
social media or kids, but you can write. If you want to do
those other things, give yourself a page count. Say you write five pages and then you can do all
those other things. That really don't
matter as much. When writing, put your mind
in jail and just write. If you were in jail, you wouldn't have a phone
to distract you. Number 14, set a timer. This is something I
also use all the time, especially when I know I have a lot of things to do that day. I will set a timer
for myself to write. During that time, all those
other things I have to do or things I'll do
after the timer goes off. When I'm at my kitchen
table or at a spot coffee, I often do 1 hour sessions. But if I have more time, then
I'll do two hour sessions. But say I only have a
limited amount of time, then I'll do a 20
minute session. During that time session, if I have an itch to go
Google something or text someone or e mail someone or whatever other
distraction there is, I won't do that thing
until the timer goes off. This goes along great with a
five minute a day rule two. Even if it's late at night, my brain wants to
do other things, I'll set a time around my
phone to 5 minutes and then just write and worry about everything else after
those 5 minutes. Number 15, go to
the library. Okay. If you live in LA,
this isn't for you. Los Angeles doesn't
have nice libraries, except for the
central one downtown that has the Panda Express. But everywhere else in
America has great libraries, and they have study rooms or conference rooms that
you can rent out. These will help
you stay focused. My hometown in Buffalo, New York has
incredible libraries. They're quiet and
help me stay focused. If I'm not going to
spot copy to write, I often find myself writing
in a public library. Also, they have
computers you can use. These often have built
in timers as well. When I log onto a
library computer, there's a time limit on
how long I can stay on that computer and I use
that time to my advantage. Sam, I'm trying to write
six pages in an hour. I use that time as
pressure to get it done. This goes along with the
last principle I mentioned. What I also love
about writing on library computers is they
don't have safe passwords. It prevents me from
going on social media or Amazon or whatever
has a safe password, because then I have to
do all those extra steps of remembering my
password and logging on. Being on a public
library computer makes me focus just on my story. I write most of my movies on writer Duet When
I'm at the library, I just log on to
write or due.com, and that's the only
tab I have open. There are no other tabs
that are distracting me. Number 16, stay away
from the Internet, TV, and your phone. This seems obvious, but the Internet is so
easy to jump onto, what's the best
way not to write, watching YouTube video or reading an article and
read it or checking your e mail or Googling
something that you don't need to know the answer to right
there and then. Again, why I love using library computers is because it makes me stay
away from all those. But if you're using
your own computer, turn off your Internet. If you're a TV watcher, turn off your TV, set a timer if you need
to and only write. This goes along with
your phone too. If you think it'll
be distraction, put your phone on
silent and put it in a room next to you
and shut the door. If you're using it as a timer, you could probably still
hear it from the next room. But creating this barrier, even if it's just
one while away, will help your brain stay
focused and keep writing. When it comes to e mail, Shonda Rhimes is a
writer I look up to, and she schedules one time a day where she looks at e
mails in the afternoon. Before and after that,
she constantly writes. Make the Internet a reward
instead of a distraction. When you hop on in
front of your computer, don't go on the Internet for the first hour or tell yourself, you won't go on
the Internet until you get x amount of pages done. Many times, we lose those creative juices we
had when we sat down because the Internet is so distracting and so addictive. Find the best way to
keep the Internet away from you until after
your writing session. Number 17, keep the document open on your
computer constantly. Make your writing document, the first thing you look at
when you open your computer and the last thing you look at when you
leave your computer. This will keep your story
and your subconscious more and keep you thinking
about your story. This will also make your brain remember that writing
is a priority to you. Number 18, set
specific deadlines. We'll touch upon this
more in the next section, but nothing helps me write
more than a deadline. For five years, I ran a writing group every
Wednesday night called deadline junkies. For that group,
every five weeks, I had to write 30 new pages and present them to all the
writers and actors there. I wrote about three
movies a year with this group because I
constantly had a deadline. Deadlines help immensely. If you're like most
people in high school, you probably waited
till the night before an assignment was due to finish your assignment because that's when the
deadline was due. This is the same
thing in real life. For myself and my
comedy scripts, a lot of my best jokes come
from the night before. A lot of my best jokes came from staying up the night
before a script was due. There's something about
that pressure that gets our brains focused
and gets things done.
5. How to Stay Focusedd 19 - 28: The difference between writers and people who want
to be writers, is wannabes, just talk about it. Actual writers actually write. They create the discipline
to get it done. Here are ways to create writing accountability and discipline. Number 19, write as soon as you wake up or just
before you go to bed. Put your laptop or story
notebook next to your bed. Then the first thing
you do before you even get out of bed is write. Even if you have to
pee, tell yourself, you won't pee until you write that scene idea or joke down. If you're not a morning person, I'm not either, but it often helps me to write
before I go to bed. Even if I'm tired, I'll
apply the five minute a day rule if I haven't
written yet that day, and some idea will
pop out on my brain. Because I write a
lot of comedies, being tired helps
with writing jokes. Maybe it's because
I'm more delusional and jokes are not logical, but being tired is a
great time to write. Number 20, don't allow excuses. There's people who make excuses and then there are writers. If you want to be a writer,
don't have excuses. Just write. I have many
friends who moved to LA to become screenwriters
around the same time I did. Yet, many years later, when I asked them, what
are you working on now? It's the exact same thing they
had when they moved to LA. They make excuses as to why they haven't written
anything in years. If you want to make money
writing and you want to get your work published,
you have to write. Excuses aren't going to move you forward, but writing will. Number 21, make
seasonal deadlines. I use seasons to write things. For example, I love writing
summer screenplays. I don't know why I should probably try to spend
more time outside, but I like to take an idea for
something I want to do and write it in a season,
especially during summer. The first movie I ever wrote
was in the summer of 2007, and I promised myself
I'd get the screenplay done before I returned to school for another
college semester. Before I went to my summer job or after I came back from work, I would write a
little bit each day, and this helped get it done. Keep track of the season so
you know the deadline date. Where I live in America, summer officially starts from June 20 and ends September 20, and that makes it even better. If you're writing
a Christmas story, I recommend writing
it from Thanksgiving to New Year's Day because Christmas is in the air and you'll feel inspired by
that time of the season. In December 2018, I did
this for my screenplay. My fiance still
believes in Santa. I option that script immediately
after I finished it, and then I optioned it again. If you don't know what
a screenplay option is and you want to know more, I suggest watching my course, how to sell a script and
make money screenwriting, where I do a deep dive
and how to do this. Number 22, join a writing group or create a writing group. Everybody needs accountability. Having a group of peers who
work with you as you write can help immensely and create the accountability
that you need. When I lived in Los Angeles, I joined a group called deadline Junkies and they're
still around. I was part of this
group for 12 years, like I said before, I ran the Wednesday
night division of deadline junkies for
over five years. Google writing groups in
the city you live in. I none exist, feel
free to make one. Maybe you have a friend
who's always wanted to write a movie or a book or
whatever you want to write. Ask that friend to join you
and schedule to meet the same time every single week
to create accountability. Number 23, create
pressure for yourself. There's something
about pressure and deadlines that make
us get **** done. Again, if you were like
me in high school, if you had a book
report or an ad, you'd probably wait until
the last day to write it. But this often makes it
better and keeps you focused. Don't create so much pressure on yourself that
you get frustrated, but have just a little bit. It makes you work on your story every day until
your story is done. Number 24. Think about
it like it's your job. Think about writing like a
job or school assignment. If someone was
paying you $1,000 to write ten pages a day,
you'd probably do it. If it helps, think about
how much money you'll make once you sell your
story. It'll be worth it. I've made money from
several scripts I've sold, but at first, I wrote those scripts
for free and for me, and I treated my
writing like a job. Every day, I would work
on my stories for hours. Then eventually, when I knew
they were in good condition, I sent them to producers
who paid me for my stories. I sent them to producers
and production companies, who paid me for those stories. Number 25. You have to write when it's
hard to make it easy. Sometimes writing
is easy and you have great idea and
you just run with it. Pages just pour out of you. But most of the time
it's not like this. Like I said before, you
have to write crappy pages, or you feel like you're
hitting your head against the wall to come
up with a good idea. But writing when it's hard, we'll get you closer to
finishing the first draft. Once you have a first draft, rewriting is so much easier
than writing a first draft. Number 26, you got to stick with a story
line to see if it works. Sometimes I'll start
writing a story line, and then the next day,
be unsure about it. Then the day after
that, I'll like it again. Here's the thing. You got to stick with a
story line and write it out from start to finish to
see if it really works. After I finished
the first draft, I've cut out story lines
together and changed them. But on the other side of that, there's times when I wasn't
sure about a story line, but after hearing it in front of an audience or
friends that I know, that story line did work. To give you a quick example. I wrote a movie titled
Punk Rock Grandpa. The log line was a dying old man has the best last
year of his life when he starts a
punk rock band with his teenage grandson and
they become rock stars. As I was writing it, I kept abating if the Grandpa
should die in the end, but I stuck with the original
idea of killing him. This ending really worked. A few months after I
wrote the first draft, I rewrote the ending
and made him live. But all my friends
agreed that the first ending with him dying was
better and more meaningful. Number 27. Plan a table read. This is more for screenplays,
teleplays and plays. But when I'm writing
a script and I want to get it done
by a certain date, I'll plan a table read and get actors or friends and set
a date for a table read. A table read is when you get a bunch of actors or
just a group of friends, assign character roles for them and read the entire
story out loud. You'll be amazed at
all the things you can find out about your
story by doing this. You can do these in person, or do them on Zoom. I do both. A huge favor you can do for your story is do
multiple table read. The closer I get to the
date of the table read, the more work and focus
I have on my story. Again, when we have
accountability from others, we often stick with
our deadlines and put pressure on ourselves
to finish things. Number 28, tell your friends, you're sending them
pages on a certain date. If you're writing
a book, this is a great alternative
to a table read, or even if you're
writing a script, play or whatever, this
will give you a deadline. Often lack accountability
when it comes to ourselves. But when others depend on us, we get our ***** into gear. Tell five to ten friends that you'll be e mailing your
story by a certain date. Then that date will
become your deadline, and you need to drive
your story forward. Make sure these friends are the ones that stand on
top of you if you don't. If you don't have five to
ten friends to e mail, then just have one or two. But the more people
you tell in e mail, the more accountability you'll create for yourself
to get it done.
6. Move Forward Constantly 29 - 32: Number 29, one day at a time, one page at a time,
one thing at a time. If your brain is like mine, it jumps all over the place. I still don't know if
I have ADD or not, but I do know when I try to
do too many things at once, none of those things
actually get completed. But focus helps. When I'm rewriting a
scene in a script, I will often take that
scene and paste it in another document titled
one scene at a time. This prevents my brain from jumping back and
forth in the story. I'm just focused on that
scene or those set of pages. Once I'm satisfied
with that scene, I'll copy and paste it
back into the story. Then I'll take the next scene or set of pages and
do the same thing. I'll copy it in the one
scene at a time document. It's always easier on our brains to do one
thing at a time. So keep this in mind. Write it one page at a time. Don't worry about page nine
when you're on page one. Just go from page one to page two to page three, et cetera. Number 30, get to the
end and then look back. So many people write the
beginning of a story and then keep rewriting it without
ever moving forward. I've had many friends who
have a first act of a story, but never finish the
second or third acts. But the thing is,
you won't know what to change until you
finish the whole story, and you need to finish the story to get it out into the world. You can't go around to agents, managers or publishers with just the first act and promise that you'll
finish it later. You need to get to
the end in order to look back. Quick story. In 2013, one of my best friends was
writing a script about an overprotective dad who meets his daughter's eccentric
billionaire boyfriend. He finished writing the
first act of the story, but never wrote x two or three. He just kept rewriting
Act one again and again, trying to make it perfect. Then three years later, a movie came out called y Him. This was the exact same
concept that my friend had. Nobody stole the
idea from my friend. People have the same
ideas all the time. Who takes an idea, executes
it and finishes it first. My uncle also claims
that he had an idea for a movie about a
struggling musician who realizes he's the only person
on Earth who remembers Led Zeppelin after waking up in an alternative world
where they never existed. But he never took the steps
to write that script. Then, lo and behold, 2019, another movie came out with
the exact same concept, but it was about the
Beatles and ten Zeplin. That film was yesterday. As you write your first
draft, keep writing. You may think of things you want to cut as you keep writing, but don't don't cut anything
until you get to the end. Also, don't judge
your ideas yet. All the time, bad ideas
can lead to good ideas. It's best not to
judge your ideas when you're first
writing a story. Again, with the rule of ten, I'll write down a crappy idea
that I know will not work. Another idea will come from my head and I'll
write that down. I often find a winning idea only after I write and
brainstorm losing ideas. Sometimes you have to write the filler to get to the killer. But right now, just focus
on getting it done. Number 31, write for
the waste basket. Ever sit down to
think. Today, I'm going to write a masterpiece. I only to find out
you can't write because you can't kill
the critic in your head. The songwriter, Johnny Mercer, used to say write for
the waste basket. This helps a lot because without feeling that pressure of
being great, he wrote crap. But after rewriting, that
crap became gold records. His career, he won
four Academy Awards for Best original song. Judd Apatal often
works like this, too. He calls his first draft the vomit pass because
it's incredibly bad. This brings us to number 32. Believe in the vomit pass. Again, this is advice
from Judd Apatal. A vomit pass is when you're
vomiting out the story. You're not putting pressure
on yourself to make it good. You're still figuring it out and you know you can
make it better later. Sure, a vomit pass might
not be a page turner, But a vomit pass is better
than no draft at all. I once read the first draft of the 40 year old virgin and
it really wasn't that funny. Most of the jokes in the
movie were not in the script, but the bones of the
story were in the script. As that screenplay had
more and more drafts, more jokes and
memorable scenes were put into it until it
had its final draft.
7. Writing Tips and Tricks 33 - 41: Here are some more
tips and tricks for your brain to
make writing easier. 33, tell yourself
writing is easy. Sometimes it's all about
the way you think. If you think to yourself,
writing is easy. Then when you sit down, it'll
be easier than expected. If you think it'll be
hard, then it'll be hard. This goes along with my
favorite Henry Ford. If you think you can
or think you can't. Either way, you are right. Sometimes it's all
about the intention. Number 34, keep your
notebook by your bedside. When you're writing every day, your story starts to stay
in your subconscious. Sometimes you'll think
of a brilliant idea or a line of dialogue
that you love, while you're in the shower
or when you're sleeping. When this happens
when I'm sleeping, I will often wake up
and be like, Yes, I have to write it down
because if I don't, I might wake up the
next morning and might not remember all
the little details, especially if it's
a line of dialogue. I might remember the
seeat of the idea, but I won't remember it word for word, or the rhythm of it. It's happened to me before. I've learned now to wake my Dupa up and write
it down word for word. Then I fall back asleep
more peacefully. Knowing I wrote it down and
it will be there tomorrow. Number 35, trust the process. As the Buffalo Bill said, when they first hired head
coach Sean McDermott, trust the process. Writing is a process after all. Writing habits aren't
made overnight. It's several days of focus and thinking of new ideas
to keep moving forward. Sure, Sean McDermott made the playoffs first
year as a head coach. But now with Josh
Allen and a process, the Buffalo Bills are Super Bowl contenders every single year. Number 36. Outline. But no, you don't need to stick to it. Write a soft outline. But no, you don't
need to stick to it. With outlines,
there's less sticks than when you're writing pages. Feel free to just outline
until you get to the pages. This will help you
when you're stuck. My outlines are usually
about ten pages or longer, and I make sure to have
all the structure down. As you write, you'll discover
more about your characters, and you can place
all your thoughts in an outline as you
write your pages. To help keep your
thoughts in order. Number 37, Have faith. Having faith, you
can do something is often the biggest obstacle. But I often have to tell myself, if you write it, it'll happen. In 2020, this is what I did for my Christmas movie
Christmas acation. You remember 2020, it was the most depressing
year of our lifetime. I lived in Hollywood and
I couldn't visit any of my friends or write at my favorite coffee
shop because of COVID. But I had an idea to
write a Christmas comedy about a family who couldn't
be together on Christmas. They throw a dysfunctional
Christmas party online. I had faith as I was writing it, that once I finished
it, I would be able to find the cast and that's
exactly what happened. I shared the finished
scripts with actors I knew, and everyone I asked
to be in it said yes. Now it's a finished
feature film that you can stream on TB
and other places. Sometimes you can get
down in yourself, or we judge your pages too much. But at these times,
dig deep down and know this thing you're writing can be a real
published thing. T you can and you will. Number 38, no trouble
is a good thing. I'm a big fan of Blake Snyder and his screenwriting books. Save the cat and save
the cat strikes back. In these books, he
writes Trouble is good. If you break through a script or through your career
without trouble, you are doing something wrong. Love this and I find
this to be true. Sometimes writing can be easy, but most of the time, it's hard. But when it's hard and
you're having trouble, then you're doing
something right. If it was easy,
everybody would do it. But mostly, everybody comes
up with excuses not to do it. Writing when it's hard
creates discipline. Number 39, treat the creative
process like a muscle. If you go to the
gym once a year, you're not going to
have a six pack. But if you go every day, you could have a six pack
after months of working out. This is the same thing
with your story. If you work on it once a year, you'll never finish your story. Ten years will go by and you'll still have
less than ten pages. You work on your story
a little bit every day, you'll get closer and closer
to finishing your story, and then one day, it'll be done. Number 40, interject
your inspiration. People like to think the
inspiration just flies around and one day it goes in your brain
and stuff gets done. But life doesn't work that way. If you say, Oh, I got to wait for inspiration to
hit me, guess what? You'll never get it done. There are plenty of times
I don't feel like writing, but I have to interject
my inspiration. They take five to 20
minutes of just sitting there writing crap and you
know you'll cut that later, but then you'll find
a groove if you keep at it and you can always
cut the crap out later. Sometimes you got to work
for that inspiration. But when the inspiration
comes to you, it's worth it. Number 41. No ideas
come one day at a time. Get more and more ideas every
day you work on your story. If you work on your
story once a week, your brain will try to remember
what you did last week. But if you do a little
bit of writing every day, your brain won't
need a refresher. Instead, you'll move your story forward a little bit every day and you'll come up with new ideas that keep the
story moving forward. It's also okay to get stuck. Like I said, trouble
is a good thing. You might write yourself
into a corner one day, how to get you and your
characters out of that corner.
8. Treat Yo Self 42 - 44: Treat yourself. Number 42, be nice to yourself. Being frustrated at
yourself for not writing will just make
you more stressed out. Instead, be proud
of where you're at and know that this is
where you meant to be. It's so easy to have doubts
and regrets in your head. But that's not going
to do any good for you or your writing. But if you're proud of
where you're at every day, it'll create positive
reinforcement to get more writing done. Number 43, applaud
every small victory. Criticizing yourself for
not writing or not coming up with a perfect idea
doesn't do anyone any good. But applauding yourself for a small victory will only
encourage you to write more. This goes along with
our final principle. Number 44, reward
yourself for writing. Say you want to see
a new movie or watch the newest episode of
your favorite TV show. Don't do that until you
reach your page count. One of my favorite shows is it's always Sonny
in Philadelphia, but I won't watch it
on Hulu until I finish my goal of writing x amount
of pages, whatever that is. Creating a reward will make
you want to earn that reward. Once you write a first
draft of your story, take yourself out
to something nice. Maybe it's a fancy restaurant or buy tickets to a concert, whatever it is, give yourself a reward for
finishing your story.
9. SkillShare Superpeer Coaching Promo: Hey, if you're interested in one on one coaching sessions, I'd love to help you during your creative process to make sure your project gets finished. You're interested, you
can book a session on SkillShare using their
new Super purer feature. To book a coaching session, just click on my SkillShare
profile and click Book Now. These coaching
sessions can be weekly or bi weekly,
whichever you prefer. I offer coaching sessions on
writing movies, TV shows, web series, producing
your own film or series, and much more. I can coach you once a week or every two weeks to
make sure you stay on track and create the
accountability you need to finish your
story and project. Contact me to book your
first session now. Thank you, and now back to your regularly
scheduled course. H.
10. Thank You + Summer Course Promo: Thank you so much for watching this course. I really
appreciate it. If you're interested in one
on one coaching sessions, I'd love to help you during your creative process to make sure your project gets finished. These sessions are
$45 for 45 minutes. If you're interested,
you can e mail me at Jordan period
emola@gmail.com. These coaching sessions can be weekly or bi weekly,
whichever you prefer. I offer coaching sessions on
writing movies, TV shows, web series, producing
your own film or series, and much more. I can coach you over Zoom once
a week or every two weeks, to make sure you stay
on track and create the accountability you need to finish your
story and project. Contact me to book your
first session now. Also, this summer, I'm hosting a summer screenplay course
where I'll be teaching students how to write
a movie in one season. I've spent many summers over the past 17 years writing
summer screenplays, where I write the
first draft of a movie during the summer season
where I am in America. And starting June
20 to September 19, I'll be teaching and hosting 60 minute teaching sessions with groups of students on Zoom, teaching several students
how to write a screenplay. You'll be responsible for
writing about ten pages a week, and I'll guide you to keep
your story moving forward. This course costs $395. And by September 19, you'll have a finished draft of a feature film screenplay. Once a week we'll meet, and I'll be giving instructions
on story structure, and we'll be
interacting with each other to see where our
stories are going. Talking out your story and
your writing helps immensely. And having a group of writers who are along the journey with you creates amazing
accountability and discipline. Again, you can e mail me at
JORDAN period mla@gmail.com. I'd love to help you write
a screenplay this summer. Also, my website
offers services like script coverage and links to my podcast and other courses. Thank you again and
write on. Okay.
Jordan Imiola, Screenwriter
