David Laudenslager at 2013-03-13 13:32:42:
Consistency is probably the hardest trait I have been working on in the past year. I have at least made myself consistently do some form of writing every week. I think that the biggest issue with keeping consistent is that I either want to go all the way or not at all. I want to get it in my head that a little progress each week, is still progress. I should aspire to be more like the tortoise and less like the hare.
Erica R Maier at 2013-03-13 13:47:07:
I love this line, David: I should aspire to be more like the tortoise and less like the hare. A little progress is most certainly still progress. I have a tendency to self-loathe if I don't get enough screenwriting time in in a given day or week. I know I need to train myself, too, to be OK with doing even a little something, which is always better than nothing.
Mark Walker at 2013-03-13 13:47:57:
Consistency is another hard thing to master, and something I find especially hard working full-time and with a wife and family. Finding time to myself away from the demands of normal life can be very demanding. But there are ways around it and even the smallest amount of writing each day can help reach consistency in effort - perhaps even if it is only 15 minutes a day. I have started getting up early to get 30-40 extra minutes done in the morning, using lunch breaks and getting a little bit of writing in in the evenings. It may not all be regular timeslots, but it helps me with consistency in so far as I am writing as much as I can all the time. And don't forget Scott's 1:2:7:14 ratio (there is a link on the left pane somewhere) is a great place to start as you realise that you can fit all of that in relatively easily, especially if you accept that the 14 hours of research can include reading, spit-balling, searching the internet or chatting through ideas with other writers. It can feel like hard work to start with, but it feels so much better when you get into a rhythym....so much so that I get cranky if I don't get some time everyday to do something towards my writing! :-)
Mark Walker at 2013-03-13 13:59:12:
Erica and David - as I alluded to below, any amount in a day is good enough for me, and I have read of people who are happy even if it is 15 minutes. I was only getting work done at the weekend when I started, but I found that I was losing momentum by not working in the week, so even 15 minutes in the evening with a beer keeps me in the right headspace.
Erica R Maier at 2013-03-13 14:05:11:
Yes, totally agree. I think I may finally be getting to the point where I am OK with small pockets of time. I was in "dormancy" for so long (a decade), that, honestly, ANY progress feels like a HUGE leap. But I still have to work at taming my obsessive-compulsive tendencies to want to get it ALL done NOW. ;)
Mark Walker at 2013-03-13 15:29:32:
That is one of the reasons I took so long to get going, thinking I needed to have hours at a time to do some writing, but I soon realised I was waiting for something that I just wasn't going to get! But I know what you mean about just wanting to get it done! I do feel better for taking any pocket of time though, however small. :-)
Scott at 2013-03-13 15:45:10:
I'm pressed for time so can't respond to everyone individually, but in the spirit of those of you who wrote about writing something every day, even if only 15 minutes, do you remember my Dumb Little Writing Trick That Works: 1-page per day? I heard this idea from producer Larry Gordon about how to knock out a script: Write one page per day. Think about it — at one page per day, in 4 months you’ve generated a 120 pages. So if you take this approach: * 1 month: Research, brainstorming, character development, plotting * 4 months: Writing (1 page per day) * 1 month: Rewrite and final edit Which means you can crank out 2 full-length screenplays per year — by writing just one page per day.