Stop Using This Word (It's killing your writing career).
I don't mean on the page. I mean when you talk to yourself.
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This past year, I put together a 12-week program designed to walk screenwriters through the beginning to end process of finishing their feature length screenplay.
Each lesson includes a breakdown of how to write that part of your script, examples from successful movies, and a mindset tool to get out of your own head and actually get your pages done. And invited my industry colleagues in for weekly Q&A’s.
I’ve helped over 60 writers finish their screenplays.
I have gotten such positive feedback that I’m going to continue this project into the new year, with some planned changes to make it even more helpful to writers. I also regularly work one-on-one with screenwriters at all levels, helping them improve their script drafts and offering strategic advice on how to make inroads in this impossibly cutthroat industry.
And last week, I sat down with every single one of my students to ask them what worked for them, what didn’t, and what challenges they still had when trying to meet their screenwriting goals.
Their answer will not surprise you:
Most writers’ biggest problem is actually finding the time to sit down to write.
Creating (and sticking to) a Daily Writing Habit remains the hardest part of becoming a professional screenwriter. Having this trouble with consistency is quite common. What is unfortunately also common is the harmful emotional reactions that come along with it:
Guilt. Shame. Self-criticism.
Too often, I hear writers say things like:
“I should be writing more.”
“I should be making progress more often.”
“I should wake up at 7am to write before I go to work.”
In helping a particularly struggling writer find a strategy that would work for her, I banned her from saying this word in our conversations:
“Should.”
Because right there in that word, there are two implications:
You have no plans to do this thing.
You have no desire to do this thing.
Telling yourself that you “should” do something is a lose/lose situation.
Because you will make 0 attempt to actually follow through on it, but then you will also feel guilty for failing to show up.
Think about the last time you really wanted to do something.
It could be a movie you were psyched to see on opening weekend, a restaurant you’d been dying to try, or a food that you typically keep around the house and realized you’d ran out of.
When you are driven by desire, you don’t say “should.”
You don’t say, “I should watch the season finale of I Love LA tonight” or “I should call my best friend for her birthday.”
You take the steps and do it.
It’s the things that you have no desire to do that you use “should” to describe:
“I should work out more.”
“I should clean the bathroom.”
“I should stop spending so much money on Special Edition LaBuBus.
When you phrase something as “I should…” you aren’t changing your behavior.
You’re simply expressing guilt.
“I should write more.”
Stop that.
People do this so much around New Year’s Eve that it’s become a cultural meme. Everyone jokes about setting those well-intentioned New Year’s Resolutions, only to drop them by mid-February.
Your chances of becoming a professional screenwriter are infinitesimally small.
Therefore, if you want to be one of the few people who does succeed, you need to devote a significant amount of time to your craft. You need to prioritize your habits, your project, and your networking.
Screenwriting needs to be one of the most important things in your life.
You can’t treat it the same way the average American treats going to the gym.
Not if you want to achieve your dreams.
There are plenty of “shoulds” in life.
You should brush your teeth at night before you go to bed.
You should stop drinking caffeine after noon.
You should get to know your neighbors.
Writing isn’t one of those “shoulds.” You don’t need to do it if you don’t want to.
As you make your goals and intentions for 2026, I invite you to start thinking about screenwriting as something you want to do. Not “should.”
Try reframing your approach to writing:
“I can’t wait to make progress on this draft.”
“I have fun playing in this world that I’m building.”
“I want to get up in the morning and work on my script.”
“I love spending time sitting down and exploring my characters.”
When you think about how you want to approach your writing, you’ll stop beating yourself up for not doing enough, and you’ll start finding a routine that works with your joy instead of relying on finite, fallible discipline.
Want to carve out time to set goals for your screenwriting this year?
Join me for a live, 2-Day Goal Setting Workshop on Zoom.
Click the button below to join.
Last year I set the goal to write EVERY DAY before work. Not should - I am active. I wake up at 5 am and do it. I have completed 3 screenplays this year. I have a small group of friends that write in our writing room in the AM. We hold each other accountable. We meet once a week in the afternoons. I think this is the first and only resolution I have ever stuck to, and I NEED it.
I am currently reading Shonda Rhimes "Year of Yes"- Read it! Be a DOER not a DREAMER.
Hey, this is great. I need to remember this and tell my students about it. Thank you for posting this.