After having written a dozen scripts this is what I have for you: Once you have an idea, go make sure no one else has done it - research. Come from a truthful place, it's always the best. Think about your market later, think about the story first. If you don't like to re-write, find another profession. If you don't have self-discipline, get a buddy and write them a post-dated check for a painful amount. If you don't deliver pages by a certain date, they can cash it. It will hurt, it will be good for you. Did I mention research? Have broad shoulders when you get criticism. Take them as contributions, not insults. Try to get criticisms and notes in writing, you will be able to use them more constructively. Listen to the universe if it's telling you to go a different direction, that's your gut, trust it. Finally, Ken Branagh said this to me ages ago and I think it's good to consider - with writing, you can't just go out and buy a canvas and paint or a lump of clay and sculpt, you have to make that lump of clay or canvas first, then start to sculpt and paint, respectively. Good luck making the clay!

Once you have an idea,make sure no one else has done it. If you don't like to re-write, find another profession. If you don't have self-discipline, get a buddy and write them a post-dated check for a painful amount. If you don't deliver pages by a certain date, they can cash it. Try to get criticisms and notes in writing, you will be able to use them more constructively. With writing, you can't go out and buy a lump of clay and sculpt, you have to make that lump of clay, then start to sculpt. Good luck making the clay!

You're a writer. Believe it. Live it. Experience it. Expect it will be hard, nigh impossible, to be a successful one. FADE OUT are the most glorious words a writer will ever type. The more you write, the more you read, the better you will be. You're a writer. If you don't believe it, no one else will either. Believe.

Everytime I finish a first draft and despair that it is bad beyond redemption, I remind myself that this was the first draft of Star Wars that George Lucas wrote: http://www.scifiscripts.com/scripts/swd1_5-74.txt Give yourself the freedom to be a first-draft George Lucas and then do three more drafts until it's THE Star Wars

Reread. Rewrite. Redo. Undo. We all get stuck. We all think we are geniuses and then wind up second guessing what we're doing. Outline everything and know where you are headed. Dive in deep with your characters. Question everyone's motives on the page. Don't let lapses of inspiration deter you from your end goal. Fodder is everywhere waiting for you to consume, interpret and use. You're ready.

Base your writing off the “Tortoise & the Hare.” Be the Tortoise. The Hare races through the beginning with feverish excitement. Midway through, he becomes bored, muddles around, takes a nap. The Hare cannot even finish the race because the Tortoise wins before him. The Tortoise takes his time, studies the characters, takes in the scenes. This slow momentum has no pressures and will ease you through the tough second act. By time you get to the finish line, everything else will be clear and you will still have energy for Round II: The Rewrite.

Show me how to exist. Teach me something about myself or the people that I love or those I hate. Make me feel less alone. Make the solitary suffering seem universal. Make me feel something. Make the world seem like a small town. Make the world seem less cruel. Make a kid in Compton relate to a kid in rural Kentucky. We need your story more than you could ever imagine. In this age of false connectedness we’ve never felt more disconnected. Change that for a couple hours. Go big. Ideas can save lives and build empires…

It’s easy to get paralyzed in the white noise of Save the Cat and Hero’s Journey. etc. etc. So for now: Forget Theme, forget Arcs, forget all that. Answer these 5 questions: What does this movie mean to me? Why do I care about these characters? Why do I want them to succeed? Or fail? What do I want the audience to get out of it? Can I change perceptions? Play with Genre? What scenes am I most excited about seeing on screen? Print it out. Tape it to the wall where you’ll see it everyday. And get to work.

Write the damn thing already.

Writing is a field rooted in creativity, but there are many piles of rules, standards, rights, and wrongs scattered throughout. Don't be afraid to follow them, bend them, break them. But do it with your whole heart, because if you do, whether you fail or succeed, it'll be yours. Crash and burn or steal a star. Don't float in the middle.

You’ve read a lot about how hard it is to write. It can be downright paralyzing. However, while it’s true that it’s often excruciating -- don’t ever forget the opposite is also true: Writing comes naturally. Writing is fun. If it weren’t, you wouldn’t want to do it. When discouraged, remind yourself of this. When you feel lost, don’t focus on a weak point, go back to a scene you love and work from there. And, when in doubt, remember: Everything you’ve read about the hell of writing is, by its existence, someone’s triumph over not writing. Keep going.

You will be ecstatic. You will be afraid. You will be determined. You will be roadblocked. You will be confident. You will be uncertain. You will be, at one point or another, everything you can feel. And here's the trick: don't be afraid to feel all of it. Don't be afraid to ride the ride that writing takes you on. Because telling your story, whatever it is, and whatever it makes you feel, is one of the most exhilarating experiences you can ever know. Just don't be afraid to open yourself up to it. Don't be afraid to feel.