The 2 Reasons Screenwriters Face Procrastination (and How To Beat Them!)

For many writers, the hardest part of finishing a screenplay is actually finding the willpower to sit down and write the thing. Here's what's stopping you.

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Screenwriting is a complicated craft.

The basics of story structure are simple enough, but juggling all the moving parts while also making the story emotionally resonant for the reader is no easy task.

But it is a learnable skill.

Thanks to the Internet, you don’t even need to go to film school. There’s no shortage of online classes, books, workbooks, podcasts, even free articles that you can read that will break down how to write an amazing script.

The hard part is sitting down in your seat and writing it.

Many writers struggle with this for many different reasons.

Some come from carefully constructed stories like “I’m waiting for inspiration to strike,” or “I have to finish XYZ project first.” Some come from excuses: “I’m too busy,” “My day job leaves me too tired.”

But at the end of the day, if you aren’t writing, the reason is simply a good old fashioned case of procrastination.

If it’s important to you, you can find the time.

Here’s the good news:

Procrastination is not the result of laziness.

It comes from one of two reasons:

Photo by Nubelson Fernandes on Unsplash

Reason #1 You don’t care enough about the task at hand.

If you don’t care enough about this screenplay, the solution is simple: Don’t write it.

I know that this only works for a script that you’re writing on spec for yourself. It isn’t helpful advice if you need to finish something for a paying job.

But you’d be surprised as to how many writers force themselves to write a script on spec even when they’re not personally excited about the idea.

Even if it’s something the market wants, your manager is excited about, and all your friends think you should write, if you’re not excited about it, there is no point in slogging through this script. Screenwriting is too hard. You’ll never get to the end of a screenplay if you’re not actually passionate about this project.

As a former literary manager, I know what it’s like to give screenwriters advice about how to best position themselves within the demands of the marketplace.

I love the feeling I get when a client pitches me an idea of theirs and I think, “I can sell the shit out of that.”

Be that as it may, if you’re trying to write the script that will break you in (or break you through to the next level), it doesn’t actually matter whether the script is something sellable in the current marketplace.

Here’s why not:

#1: It’s impossible to keep up with industry mandates at your level.

As a literary manager, one of my jobs was to constantly call producers and executives to ask what kinds of scripts they were looking for.

If I had a client with a relevant script, I would send that over to them. Or, if I had a client who liked to write those kinds of scripts, I would send their sample over and use that to tee up a general meeting. The client would pitch a couple ideas in that meeting, and it might even lead to a paid job.

I was doing this, and hundreds of other managers across the industry with their hundreds of working professional screenwriter clients with impressive resumes were doing this.

If you are outside the industry, still working on cracking that sample that is going to break you in, by the time you hear about an industry trend, it has already passed.

If you aren’t already a steadily working writer with tons of contacts asking you for ideas for scripts, then by the time you finish writing that super sellable script, those executives have already found it from someone who is faster and better connected than you.

They have already moved on.

This is good news!

It means you don’t have to waste your time trying to figure out what people want.

Instead, you get to show them what they want.

Reason #2: The industry doesn’t even know what it wants anyway.

When I was calling executives and asking about their mandates, the answers were often nonsensical, and everyone’s were always the same.

I don’t blame them.

Many of my best friends are executives. I know that they are just doing their jobs and that they’re getting many of these mandates from higher ups on the food chain from who read ratings reports or listen to insights from the algorithm all day or however studios make their buying decisions.

Still, it was infuriating to hear “We want the next Game of Thrones/Arrival/Romancing the Stone” from every single person I talked to all the time.

It was either that or “We would have bought something like Killing Eve,” when I know for a fact that they would have literally passed on Killing Eve if it had been brought to them by Phoebe Waller-Bridge pre-Fleabag.

Anyway, I digress.

My point is that buyers (networks, streamers, studios) don’t know what they want.

Therefore, sellers (studios, production companies, agents, and managers) don’t know what they want. They just want to find something good in the hopes that the buyers will like it too.

The real breakout hits (like Squid Game) always end up taking everyone by surprise.

And then they start asking for the next that.

Until something completely new comes along and is a surprising breakout hit.

Reason #3: What execs really want is an idea that piques their interest and is executed brilliantly.

Even when they claim to have specific script mandates, most executives are just looking for a splashy concept that excites them.

Then, when they read the script, they want to emotionally connect with the characters and be entertained from beginning to end.

I know that’s easier said than done, but the nice thing is that you no longer have to worry about marketability. You no longer have to try and force yourself to write something just because you think it’s what people want to read.

Instead, you can just write the script that you’re passionate about.

As long as you make people emotionally connect with it, and as long as you make it entertaining, it will be sellable to someone somewhere.

Reason #4: Finishing a brand-new script is the most important thing.

You’re not going to finish a new script if you’re not excited about it.

And finishing something new is always the most important thing. Sure, rewriting a script is important. You can’t just churn out first draft after first draft and become a successful screenwriter.

But I more often see writers get too stuck in the revising/editing/tweaking phase of things.

I understand that a script is never truly finished.

And there’s nothing wrong with going back and continuing to tinker with something that you’ve already written years ago.

But you can’t get stuck on that project.

The harsh truth is that if you haven’t broken in yet with the material you have, it’s probably not going to happen for you.

Instead, focus your efforts on putting what you’ve learned into a new script.

If it’s one that you’re passionate about, you’ll have a much easier time sitting down to actually write it.

Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash

Reason #2: You’re afraid that you won’t do a good job at it.

Of course, the opposite side of the coin here is that being too passionate about a script puts too much pressure on it.

The longer you resist actually sitting down and starting it, the harder it becomes to write. There is something demoralizing about taking the thing that exists in a perfect state of potential in your head and actualizing it onto a document where it now exists in its imperfect first draft state.

I know that “Get over the fear and just sit down to write,” is easier said than done, so here are some more specific actionable tactics that you can use:

#1 - Schedule your writing time.

When do you have the most time and energy to write?

Everyone is different, but we all have a specific time of day where we get 3x the same amount of work done in the time it usually takes us to do the same task. Craig Ballantyne refers to this as Magic Time, and it’s different for every person.

For me, it’s the morning.

Waking up and starting my writing at 6am means no one else is around to distract me, my brain is fresh, and I can power through my creative work.

During the afternoons, I hit a slump, and in the evening, there is practically no point in even trying to accomplish anything productive.

There is a cultural obsession among American overachievers with the idea that you should be going to the gym and working out first thing in the morning before you start your day. That is all well and good if exercise is your top priority. But for us, the most important thing in the world is writing a screenplay.

So why would you waste precious brainpower time on an activity that doesn’t use your brain?

If you’re sharpest in the morning, do your writing in the morning. Save the gym for the afternoon or evening when you’re done.

But being a morning person is not the only path to success here.

I have friends who get their best work done late at night, after everyone else is in bed.

Or maybe you do your best work on your lunch break. The key is to define when you have the fewest distractions and the most energy. Those are the two hours a day you will devote to your writing.

During which hours of the day do you have the most energy? During which hours of the day do you have the fewest distractions? Do these overlap? If so, these are your Magic Hours. Go put it into your calendar!

If they don’t overlap, where in your schedule can you carve out some consistency?

It doesn’t need to be two full hours, or even one.

You can get a whole screenplay done if you write just 30 minutes a day. The key is to make the most of those 30 minutes.

Speaking of which…

#2 - Plan the night before.

If your Magic Hours are the time where you are at your sharpest and most productive, don’t waste this valuable time figuring out what to write!

Get in the habit of preparing for the next day at the end of your work session or before you go to bed:

1. Define the most important thing that you will work on tomorrow. If you only get one thing done, what will make it a great day?

2. Set out any notebooks, pens, or other writing supplies you need.

3. Get to bed on time, so you’re well-rested and ready to start the day with energy.

Make this a ritual that you look forward to. It should feel like a rewarding, celebratory end to your work session, leaving you energized for the next one.

Consider logging in a special notebook or document:

• Writing Session duration

• What you accomplished

• Struggles, Problems, and Questions

• Discoveries, Breakthroughs, and Triumphs

• What the Most Important Thing you can accomplish tomorrow is.

When you end with a feeling of triumph, you will start to build confidence from each day of work.

That confidence that comes from repeatedly showing up for yourself and your writing.

It’s the biggest weapon in your fight against procrastination.

Photo by Content Pixie on Unsplash

#3 - Create a Writing Session Ritual.

Do something fun and significant to get yourself in the mood for writing when it is your scheduled time to do so.

The key is to make this short and sweet, less than 10 minutes (this is cutting into your Magic Hours after all!) The right ritual will get you into a headspace where you are ready to be creative. But it should not become its own form of Productive Procrastination. Keep it quick!

Here’s mine:

1. Brew coffee.

2. Feed the dog.

3. Make the bed.

4. Light a couple candles.

5. Coffee is ready! Sit down and start writing.

Give yourself a little treat, only available during writing time.

This can be a beverage, a snack, a scented candle, a cozy sweater, your favorite pen, an expensive notebook, comfy socks.

Anything you love that makes you genuinely look forward to writing.

#4 - Touch your script every day.

You don’t need to accomplish a full Writing Session every single day.

I recommend giving yourself 5-6 days of Writing Sessions a week and leaving yourself 1-2 rest days. But these should be more like “Active Rest Days.” Write at least one page every single day. It doesn’t need to be a page of screenplay.

It could be a page of brainstorming, backstory, or something else related to your script.

The trick is to keep that momentum moving forward.

The longer amount of time you spend away from your project, the harder it will be to get back into it. This will result in more and more procrastination that will be increasingly difficult to overcome. The best weapon against it is to chip away at your project little by little in a way that feels consistently joyful.

Through showing up for yourself and making this routine feel rewarding, you will start finding it easier to write than it is to not write.

And that’s when the real magic happens.