Scott, thanks for this checklist. I find this type of "how-to" to be very useful. I think the biggest challenge is going to be #7. I just started a full-time job with a good 2-hour roundtrip daily commute. If anyone has any ideas on being able to flip a switch in my brain to get into the zone in an instant, I'm all ears. How do other people balance having to have a paying job while pursuing a creative career on the side without burning out from sleep deprivation?

Maybe a dictation app for your commute? I searched, "dictation apps for android, iphone & ipad," lots of great articles/comparisons. For me, "the zone switch" is all in the daily decision to start. Once I start, I'm amazed how quickly creative juices flow. Commit to a chunk of time, day after day after day, then voila! Script pages.

Meg, congratulations on your new job! I had a killer commute at one point when I was working in Japan and I hear you on the concerns about sleep deprivation. Can you sketch out ideas longhand or edit pages while you commute? (Are you driving or on public transit?) If you're driving--in addition to dictation apps, think about audio books of works that will help immerse you in your story world, whether that's factual information, or voice and tone, or anything else that may make that commute time feel well spent. One good trick for "flipping the switch": sit with your head still. Flick your eyes from side to side, reaching the far corners of your vision, as rapidly as you can, for 30 seconds. (Do make sure you're sitting, as you may get dizzy.) It seems to jump start the right brain. Not so good for editing or filing taxes, but for brainstorming and writing a first draft from an outline, it may be helpful. Another tip for not burning out: give yourself permission to let go of things that don't matter to you. And, if you have the financial latitude, pay for services that buy you time (laundry, housekeeping, yardwork, whatever). It really is a straight-up trade of time for money, if you can swing it.

Meg, congrats on the new job. Riffing off Shaula's suggestion, I wrote much of the spec script K-9 while driving up and down the state of California between comedy gigs. How? My trusty, funky handheld cassette recorder. I would talk through the story during those long hours on the 5 and 101. Wind my way back home to Berkeley. Review the tapes and create a sort of transcript. Then wrangle plot from that. So definitely you can brainstorm and work your story using a recording device during your commutes. Perfect place to do it, I found.

Story concept, check. Brainstorming, underway. Movie watching, starts tonight. Tough questions, following the posts, getting ready for prep: I can do that. Clearing my schedule is the difficult one, but I'll fit it my Quest in around other projects somewhere. Hey, I'm really on top of this! Which worries me. Pride comes before a fall, right? :)

thanks Traci, Shaula, & Scott, yes. Iam driving. I have a digital recorder and an android phone so I am definitely going to check out dictation apps. Interesting about that eye movement technique. Will try that, too, but obviously not when driving.

1. check ... honing in on concept 2. check ... trying to nail Villain and full Villain Plan, testing two P's. Thanks for master brainstorming list tip... my storms blow out to sea sometimes. 3. check ... breaking down Se7en this week per your How to Read a Script guidelines... also will do a script-to-screen analysis before moving to next thriller on my research list. 4. in progress. Your direct question circles me around to questions #1 and #2 and gives me an interesting new idea to play with. 5, 6, 7. ... getting ready to get ready To Meg -- I also have found driving to be a super activity for brainstorming, character interviews/freeform visits and scene planning/structuring. Ditto the tape recorder and voice recorder tip. Good luck in using your commute time to the hilt! Re: zoning in quickly. Some people play an evocative piece of music that they've chosen specifically for a script. They tell me it gets them in the mood of the story and serves as a kind of cue to go 'on.'