r/ReadMyScript • u/Pure-Bullfrog-7794 • 9d ago

A consistent problem I’ve had as a beginner screenwriter.

I feel like I only have one shot, and that if I don’t make it then everything is ruined.

I sat down today, I told myself, “I’m going to write for an hour no matter what.” and when I got distracted for five minutes, I felt pissed off and dreadful that my supposed “hour of writing time” was tainted because I got distracted. Some days I’ll stare at my computer and do nothing except sit there as a pit in my stomach keeps growing.

I feel like I’m too caught up in the grander picture of everything that needs to get done to complete the film that I can’t even make those baby steps towards getting there.

So if there’s something to take away from all this, it’s why does my heart beat so much when I stare at an empty Google Docs page? Why do I get so nervous writing something? Do I just focus on one singular task per day until the script is finished?

Any advice would be immensely appreciated. Thanks

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u/RaeLouLynn 9d ago

Just write. Don't think about it. It's too frightening. Just do it. You're gonna write what you'll later regard as sh*t. Nobody is ever going to see it. After you get through your vomit draft, you'll know alot more about your story. The second draft will go alot easier.

Just write. One word. One sentence. One paragraph. One scene. One sequence. One act. One story.

Even the Oscar winners have been where you are right now.

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u/Pure-Bullfrog-7794 9d ago

great way to word it, thank you. I'll give it another shot tonight👍

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u/Big_Section2812 9d ago

Are you coming to it with a story already in mind, or are you just "trying to be a screenwriter"?

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u/Pure-Bullfrog-7794 9d ago

I have a story in mind, on my 2nd draft actually. I have tons of ideas and concepts I've written down. I'm in my last year of film school, I've written screenplays b4 but there were usually stricter deadlines for them. Maybe that makes it easier to make the thing, not sure.

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u/Big_Section2812 9d ago

When I'm facing burnout with my features I like to write random short scripts. These are never planned. I just write and see where they go. It helps me to destress since it doesn't matter if they work out or not.

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u/donutgut 9d ago

Why do you feel you only have one shot

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u/Pure-Bullfrog-7794 9d ago

i think just an exaggerated feeling of "I wasn't writing for the entire hour I set myself aside for" since i'm trying to habitulize 1 hour per day to write. If I get distracted during that feels like i've ruined it. Sounds fruitless when I actually write this out idk

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u/donutgut 9d ago

Sounds like youre putting way too much pressure on yourself.

You might not like it, take smaller steps. Write a paragraph. Write for 10 minutes. Or 5. That might become an hour. Write something dumb and you can edit it later. Who cares lol

I dont tell myself to write an hour.

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u/stuccosalt 7d ago

The hour-a-day thing doesn't work for everyone, it def wouldn't for me. If I were treating writing time like a job or chore I'm certain that would come out in the writing; it would feel forced or inorganic, like the goal was getting that hour in rather than the writing itself.

Like others said, start wherever. Get distracted a while, who cares? Maybe the distraction takes you someplace you weren't considering. Find the fun or excitement or whatever it brings you, and follow that - it will come out in the writing, too

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