You have to have two lives.

You have to write with the same quality and speed of pros. And be able to put out as much quality material as they do. You need to always be working on your next project. And have the ability to network when needed, which is almost always.

Afterall, you want to be a pro, right? Well, seems obvious that in order to be a pro you should be doing what the pros do. And trying to one up them as much as possible.

So, in short -- you have to be better than the pros while maintaining a secondary life that supports you in your pursuit of this goal.

All the while working 9 to 5 in some shitty soul sucking hole.

It's not easy. But I haven't read the manual, so I have no idea if it is supposed to be.

None of this applies if you are independently wealthy. Then go to town. And know that I hate you for it :)

I have a 50 hour a week job, a wife, and a baby. Here's what I do.
1. Brainstorm in the car. Everyday while I'm driving, I think about my current project, so when I actually get to sit down, I have a place to start.
2. I email myself ideas while at work.
3. After the wife and baby go to bed, usually around 10pm. I write until 12. 2 hours a day ain't bad. More on the weekend.

Basically, always be writing. At least in your head.

Here's how I wrote my novel -- I woke up every weekday morning at 4:30 and wrote for 2 hours before getting up wife and kids to get everyone out the door to school, work etc. Then I'd do editing, brainstorming, and whatnot during lunch or odd spare moments during the day.

I did that for 4 years. During that time, I wrote my novel from scratch, did two major revisions, and wrote first drafts for a couple screenplays. It was a grind, though. I stopped doing it a couple years ago, and my progress is a lot slower.

John Grisham and Ron Bass both used to wake up at 5 AM to write before they began their day jobs as lawyers. Elmore Leonard began as a member of what I call “The Breakfast Club for Writers.”)

“I began training for the writing life in 1951, getting up at 5:00 A.M. and writing for two hours before going to work at an ad agency.” Elmore Leonard (who BTW has been a big influence on Tarantion.)

More recently screenwriter Pete Chiarelli says he wrote “The Proposal” in the mornings before his day job as a creative executive.

If you can fit in two hours of writing a day (edit out TV, video games, Internet, parties) and you can get a lot of pages written.

I'm with these guys, and furthermore: It doesn't even have to be two hours. I managed to write, rewrite, and re-edit a first novel that got published, by writing for one hour every morning before my day job (and writing longer shifts on the occasional days off).

Takes quite a while with the 9-6 gig in the way (mine was a 3-4 yer process), but in retrospect, I'm glad the process took as long as it did, since the material had time to marinate and mature, via that slow-motion approach.

...versus the faster one, which as you can see, yields typos.

You can do anything if you get up early enough. And disable your internet connection.

My new best friend in writing has become furlough fridays! Everyone else is at work and I can at least get a few hours of quality time.

Realistically I can only manage 1-2 hours a night. Being young and single definitely helps. There is often too many distractions, but self discipline can go a long way.

I figure if I can withstand the abuse and heartache now.. 'the pain now is part of the happiness later."

The best advice I can provide is to maintain order. By that I mean, set a schedule, keep it consistent, and stick to it.

If you know you are working from 10-6pm, then get up at 6am and write until 9, everyday. Like anything worth having in life, it is not easy.

You just have to keep your goals in mind. Do you want to be a 9 to 5 schmo or do you want to be a working screenwriter? I think if you're reading this site, the answer is easy.

The easiest thing to forget is that writing is a job too. You should do it because you love it and have a passion for it, but that does not make the tedious parts that much easier. You always have to remember that you chose this career path because it is better than working for the man.

In short. Focus. Have it. Read whenever you aren't writing and it will stimulate more writing. Don't ever stop if you love it. For all of our sakes.

Cheers,
Martin Stanley
http://scriptjunkies.blogspot.com/

I brainstorm at work, then write when I get home after having my ideas percolate in my head all day.

Aim for AT LEAST 1 (one) page per day. That is 365 pages, which roughly translates to three screenplays at 120 pages (and who writes 120 page screenplays anymore?), or three drafts of one screenplay.

Some days, I got in the groove and wrote 5 pages, sometimes even 10. That allowed me to take a day off from writing to watch some movies and/or outline a little more.

That's how I managed to write three scripts in one year while working TWO jobs AND still having a social life.

Budget your time and never stop learning. That's the key.

Always have a plan, and make that plan as detailed as possible on both the macro and micro levels.

Macro: From January through April I'll write a script; in May I'll rewrite my last one; in June I'll rewrite the new one; write a new script from July through November; etc., etc. (This can be subject to change, of course, but it's good to think in these terms. Having a "development slate" makes me feel much more professional.)

Micro: On Wednesday/Thursday night I'll write six more pages; on Saturday I'll write ten; I'll finish the first act by next Wednesday.

Lots of online services/programs can help you set tasks with due dates and reminders. I use Remember the Milk, which plugs in to GMail.

I would disagree with what James says about needing to write with the same quality and speed as the pros. Quality, yes; speed, not so much. It's always good to work on getting faster (without sacrificing quality), but writing specs is different than writing on assignment -- and by the time you're writing on assignment, you'll be getting paid.

I wrote my first screenplay while I had a full time job. I am not an early riser like many of these writers seem to be, so my method was to put in at least three hours every night, and at least one day a weekend.

My first screenplay turned out to be highly praised, award-winning, and started me on an addictive writing path. So I stuck with my writing routine.

About ten months ago I moved to another country, leaving behind what was perhaps the best "day job" I could have ever asked for, and I haven't managed to find paid work since. But I write so much every day now that I've produced volumes of work I could never have hoped to produce while working on such a restricted schedule. I don't ever want to go back to a day job again. I admit, I may have to eventually, but in the meantime I'll use this gift of time to the best of my abilities.

But whether I had a job or not, one key thing never changed, my ambition. Your time will vary but if your ambition does not, you will always find a way to write. It's what you do.

You scoop your brains up and pour them back into your head every few weeks.

For a long time, I considered myself a writer. But I usually found more excuses NOT to write than to actually sit down and work the keyboard.

About three years ago, I decided to make writing a habit. I get up every morning and try to put in an hour before work and then more on the weekends.

In that time, I've completed eight screenplays (some are first drafts, some are multiple drafts and some are collaborations). No masterpieces yet, but I'll keep trying.

Like more than a few people said, do it every day and you'll be amazed how it adds up.

Greg

I'm a 'get the family to bed before sitting down to write' kind of guy myself. I average two hours and five pages a night on those first drafts. That translates to churning out a screenplay in a month.

What I've found is that I can't churn out 12 screenplays each year. I need a month to outline and structure (and grind out a dead-end screenplay that gets shelved), and then a month to revise old screenplays.

That still translates to four solid screenplays every year in only two hours per day. One of the things that keeps me motivated is the thought of what I could accomplish without a day job in the way.

I've spent the last 2 years working a 10 hour day, coming home and writing for about eight hours. Weekends I would clock about 12 writing hours each day, alternating between writing and editing to keep my eyes from burning out of their sockets. I even started popping Sudafed mixed with Rockstar to buy me a few extra hours of awake time in the early morning.

I sacrifed birthdays, celebrations, get-togethers, and even Thanksgiving in an effort to find those spare minutes of productive time because that's what people who really dream something are supposed to do, right? Go for it and not look back.

In the end, it's turned my mind to moosh and I now find myself crying at random intervals throughout the day. My advice? Don't let it eat you because it will swallow you whole.

kgmadman is right on the money. To look on the bright side, one of the great things about being a part-timer is that I can take the day off from writing without worrying about whether there will be food on the table next month or not.

Yeah, when I'm not writing, I'd rather be writing, but for now, at least when I'm writing I'm right where I want to be.

I finally realized that my life as a professional writer would probably not be much different than the life I have now. I follow enough professionals’ blogs and twitters accounts to know that even if I “make” it I’ll still be writing on an airplane, in a hotel room, at my kid’s game, etc. Or trying to catch up on my reading while waiting at the dentist and wasting a whole day having a meeting. At least if I achieve the life I’d like.

This shift in attitude caused a dramatic change in my writing approach. No longer did I see myself as someone working towards a life I wanted someday. I no longer look at “my life” an impediment to my writing goals.

All the stuff I do now in my life will still be there but I’d be a writer doing those things instead. I’d still have to figure out when to get all the writing done. (My kid will still get sick, I’ll still have stupid meetings to go to, my mom will still think her vacation should be my vacation when she visits, etc).

Here’s my tip--
I use my laptop as a giant sticky note—open to the page I’m working on (it’s on the kitchen table). I can push out a scene or paragraph while the pasta water boils. If I want to check email I find myself rereading what I last wrote because I see that first.

1. Don't wait for inspiration. Write anyway. And figure out how you make yourself inspired. Inspiration is not floating around in the air; It is in your head. Just learn to trig it.

2. Think a lot. Then you are ready to write when you get your chance.

3. Writing a page does not take that long. Make sure you write it. Every day.

4. Make your priorities. Everybody got 24 hours a day. It's your choice what to do with them. I suggest you still sleep eight hours of them and spend time with your family. You won't be happy worn out and alone.

5. Don't whine. It's poison and a waste of energy.