Movies, Screenwriting & Independent Film
Header

Era 7: A Screenwriter Evolves

September 1st, 2010 | Posted by jasonmckinnon in Screenwriting - (0 Comments)

Era 7: A Screenwriter Evolves

September 1st.

My personal screenwriting year end.

It’s an extremely important date on my calendar because it gives me a chance to reflect on what I’ve accomplished and set some goals for the new year.

This will be the seventh anniversary of this holiday and I consider it a new era.

Era 7 has begun.

It sounds strange to number each era but I feel like each year should be a leap forward.

New year.  New goals.

It’s time to evolve.

Like every September 1st, I go back and review literally everything I’ve written as well as everything I didn’t.  This year is especially important because I really didn’t write that much.  I spent a lot of the last year and a half being a director with Playing Through completed and The Climb in post.

Sadly, directing those films in addition to my career left me with little to no time to write.

Until a few months ago when we wrapped The Climb.

I suddenly realized I had regained my free time.  Screenwriting had returned and with it, a new focus.

Era 7 is going to be my most productive to date. You can only truly call yourself a writer if you shut up, sit down and write screenplays.

Before I get to next year, it was time to reflect on the previous 12 months.

Like I said, I didn’t write much but that doesn’t mean I wrote nothing at all.  I finished a number of short film scripts and put a serious dent into my latest feature script.  I also went back and rewrote some old scripts to get them ready for potential competitions.

It’s been a while since I entered a screenwriting competition and it’s time to put myself out there again.

I’ve spent the last few weeks finishing up old projects and I started writing a series of shorts I’m thinking could work well as a web series.

Now it’s time to focus more on my feature screenplays. I haven’t finished one in a while and it’s time I fixed that problem.

Era 7 will be the year of the feature screenplay.  I couldn’t be more excited.

I’ve got 3 stories I’m planning on writing this year and I’ve never been more committed to creating entertaining scripts.

My goal for Era 8 is to be able to look back on my accomplishments and be proud of the work I’ve done this coming year.

There’s a lot to do but I feel like I’m a screenwriter again.

When it comes to being passionate about something, it doesn’t get any better than screenwriting for me.

Bring on Era 7.

Share This:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Digg
  • Google Bookmarks
  • del.icio.us
  • StumbleUpon
  • Add to favorites
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr
  • email
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS

Making A Screenwriting Schedule | Screenwriting Blog

In light of all the projects and scripts I’ll be working on throughout the next few months, I decided it was time to return to a technique I don’t use enough.

The Writing Calendar

It pays to look ahead and really plan so that you aren’t overwhelmed when deadlines start to approach.

I suppose a massive benefit to my current situation is there are no deadlines.  This doesn’t mean I shouldn’t be doing everything possible to stay on top of things.  This is where a screenwriting schedule comes in handy.  It’s a way to set goals and make sure there is always forward motion…  Progress.

So, I fired up a new Excel document and made a list of all of my screenwriting projects.  I also included my film, web, blog and development work.

It’s a big list.

Stepping back and looking at all of the projects I care deeply about is fun for about 4.5 seconds.  Then it becomes challenging to try and figure out how to get everything done.

The next step is to write down rough ‘due dates’ for each project. It’s important to look at each item and make sure to allow a realistic amount of time to complete.

This is where problems you start to see a clear picture of what needs to be done.

After that it’s on to micro managing.

I started with the feature screenplay I’m currently writing.  I’d like it to be finished by September.  I’ve already written about 60 pages and the entire story has been developed and outlined.  So I’ve set key dates over the next few months with page goals so that I can realistically meet that deadline.

I do this for every single project I’m working on.

XTRA | The Inspiring Screenwriting Email To Yourself

The Result?

I now have a list of weekly targets to hit.  Each week I have a major goal to reach and several minor projects to complete.

Obviously major projects include feature screenplays, editing our new short film and my new book.  (Details on the book are a secret.)

Minor projects include featured blog posts, graphics, web updates and short scripts.

I’m now running my home office like a business with a certain amount of dedicated hours per week to get things done.

The beauty of my new schedule is that it allows me all the free time I need to be a normal human being.  Like I said, not having any big deadlines allows me to leave myself as much time as I want to complete my work.

The lesson is simple.  No matter how many goals I reach, progress is always being made.

XTRA | Shut Up, Sit Down & Write Screenplays

Share This:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Digg
  • Google Bookmarks
  • del.icio.us
  • StumbleUpon
  • Add to favorites
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr
  • email
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS