The busy student

There's never an end to the process of learning, and that's a great feeling. However, I am just too busy at the moment to really have the time to write nothing, or write bad scenes. I am a student, which means I must write very good scripts, or I'm wasting valuable time. Not yet money, besides my own, but hey, that's even more important.

So I sat down to write the next 10 pages of my script, pages 11-20. I had a few ideas of what must happen, and the rest just came from itself. I don't think you should really be so hard on yourself when writing your first feature script.

Don't get stuck on research

I'm writing about something I don't know enough about. It's a field of science, and I don't know how those guys talk, their jargon/slang, I don't know which positions at the lab are responsible on certain things, etc. I've also never been to the city I'm writing about, somewhere in the California desert.

So I read about it, to make my thinking clearer. It also gives me new ideas, opens my head. But the most important thing at this phase is the actual writing of the script. It is the story behind that matters, and if I get stuck on research I won't be able to write at all. So some balance is needed.

Know your spine, then let your mind go

You've made your step outline (beat sheet) an you know where you;re going. Great. You know what each character symbolizes and what should happen with its want/need. You have your A story, B story, C story. Wonderful.

Now put that to the side and just write. Write your first act, based on what you know should happen. You have those 10 main beats that must occur, and the rest is yours to play with.

I'm talking about beginner scriptwriters, those who are still confused by the whole process. I feel it is very important to keep an open mind while writing, cos at the end - that's all we've got.
:)