Finishing Your Screenplay | The Athletic Nerd

Screenwriting: Finishing A Feature Screenplay

March 23rd, 2010 | Posted by jasonmckinnon in Screenwriting - (2 Comments)

In an earlier post, I wrote about choosing between an exciting new idea and finishing your current screenplay.

I ultimately decided to wait until I finish my feature script before tackling development on a new story. This has become quite frustrating as I’ve only written 3 or 4 pages in the last few weeks. It’s been a sloooooow process.

What’s the hold up?

Many of the delays relate to all the other projects that I’m a part of. Whether it’s writing a short script, directing a movie, editing, blogging or general networking, there always seems to be something in the way of my feature script.

Would I rather be doing something else besides screenwriting? I don’t think that’s it because I think about my screenplays all the time. Especially now that good ideas are really starting to pile up.

No need to worry.

I came to a realization today that I shouldn’t feel guilty about my current lack of progress. Or at least, my perceived lack of progress.

Here’s why:

I still think about all my scripts everyday and I’m always writing down notes and developing new scenes and characters. These little details don’t have to be worked out while I’m filling up the white space. In other words, progress is being made.

Write every day.

I believe in order to be a good screenwriter, you have to be on your toes at all time. You never know when inspiration will strike. So for me it doesn’t matter if it’s a new short script or a screenwriting related blog post, I’m constantly thinking about screenplays.

I write everyday and that’s honestly something I couldn’t claim a year ago. Blogging and screenwriting are now daily routines. Just because I haven’t touched my feature script in a week or so doesn’t mean I’m not working on my craft.

Most importantly, I don’t want to rush things. The short screenplays I write in between feature scripts are an important part of 17 West Productions. It’s a responsibility I don’t take lightly.

Stick with it!

However, there comes a time when development can only go so far and it’s time to finish pounding out the pages.

There is nothing more motivating than seeing the finish line and knowing you’re going to get there. I have to get there!

I know I’m not the only one who falls behind sometimes but every good screenwriter knows when to buckle down.

I strive to be a good screenwriter so that’s what I plan to do.

Setting Goals.

Today I’m going issue myself a challenge.

I’m in the midst of rewriting and tweaking two short screenplays. (One of which we are producing next year and the other I’m directing in a few months.)

Besides this blog, there is nothing stopping me from finally dedicating even a few hours a week to my main screenwriting venture.

I’m realistic though and I defintely have a lot on my plate. So I won’t be setting any hard deadlines.

Let’s just say I’d like development work to begin on my new feature by the summer.

Either way, progress is all about how much effort you are willing to put into something.

The home stretch begins!

It’s time to write!

Screenwriting: Afraid To Show People Your Work?

February 2nd, 2010 | Posted by jasonmckinnon in Featured Posts | Screenwriting - (2 Comments)

I write because it’s fun.

Finishing a screenplay is pretty much outstanding and I’ll always love telling stories.

I’ve been a screenwriter since high school yet I’ve always dealt with a nagging phobia that I just couldn’t seem to get over…

I was terrified to show people my work.

My trusted inner circle of friends and family were sent copies of my scripts but I usually ended the distribution there. When I was younger, I just couldn’t wrap my head around people reading something I wrote.

Anybody else with me on this?

Now, I’m not afraid of receiving criticism. For many, that’s the number 1 reason why work remains unread collecting dust in a closet. I welcome any and all opinions of my writing. I just can’t get passed the idea that someone is reading my scripts.

What does American Idol have to do with this?

You can look at this a number of ways, perhaps I wasn’t afraid of criticism back then because I knew my inner circle would never really tell me I was a terrible screenwriter. Or it could be that I just wasn’t ready to put myself out there. It’s a struggle because you’ll never know if you’ve got what it takes until you put yourself out there.

It’s like the awful singers on American Idol. (The real ones, not the fakes who just want 2 minutes of fame.) These people are built up by their families and friends. Constantly encouraged to follow their dreams. They truly believe they are the next idol. I believe they should believe in themselves yet it crushes me every time Simon and crew rip them apart.

When you’re passionate about something, you work so hard to achieve success and hitting a wall like that must be the most devastating feeling in the world.

This is my greatest fear as an aspiring filmmaker.

Getting over it.

However, I’ve learned over the last few years to work around my fears. There is a line between having a dream and going for it. At some point, you have to make the decision to move forward and break through the walls in front of you.

Starting 17 West Productions was a way of forcing myself to show people my screenplays. The theory is simple:

If you want to write and produce movies, you have to let people read the script!

After we created a few short films, I started to gain some confidence in my abilities.

Then I entered the original draft of The Climb into a competition and came 4th out of over 1200 scripts. It was the first time I was ever judged by people outside my precious circle.

Click here to see the results of that contest.

Click to read: Is My Screenplay Ready For Competitions

I think these tiny victories are important. By no means did I expect to fire off a feature and win Final Draft’s Big Break contest or something similar. I’ve always believed that would have been discouraging. Many people have dreams of making it big and rocking the cover of Variety as someone who burst onto the scene. I have the same dream but I’ve always been extremely critical of my writing and so I decided not to go for the big splash.

Playing Through was another leap forward for me. During the auditions, I was terrified of listening to people perform my words. It was baffling that people were nervous to read in front of me. I wanted to tell everyone of them that I was just as scared. It was an eye opening experience because many worked so hard to nail their performances. After the first few auditions, I began to really enjoy listening to the lines being read by passionate actors.

To me, if you aren’t passionate and completely dedicated to the project, there is no point working on it. Beyond that, you have to surround yourself with equally committed artists.

Working within an enthusiastic environment is an inspiring way to work.

I got over it.

It was that spirit that finally broke my fear of showing people my scripts.

I still beat myself over the head with endless rewrites before I show anyone but eventually it gets out there.

There are so many dusty scripts in my closet. I should have gotten over it long ago.

PS: If you’re thinking I may dust the old scripts off and send them out into the world you are mistaken. Those old scripts are terrible. We all started somewhere right? I’ll leave it at that.