Uploaded April 2023 | Updated September 2026, 15 hours ago
Writing a screenplay is not for the faint-hearted. I never thought a blank page could have so much power, and a few weeks ago I did what I needed to in preparing myself to face it. I used a combination of the beat sheet and the story circle to outline as much of my story as possible.
After the outlining phase, I couldn’t get myself to start writing. I wanted to face the blank page, but I had a few days where life seemed to be overly generous with the lemons it was shooting my way.
So, I ran away to write my screenplay.
What I use in my video:
Artlist: bit.ly/3rA67MI (get 2 extra months)
I had my beet sheet, my step outline, a summary of the two characters, and then a copy of The Holiday close by. I was excited to start this screenplay. My approach was to break the writing into sessions.
I would stretch the three-act structure of writing a screenplay over four days. As I had around 2-3 hours a day to work on my movie script, I aimed to have completed the entire first draft of my film in under 24 hours.
Chapters:
00:00 Cinematic moments
00:18 Writing Retreat
00:58 Phase 2 Outline
01:02 Facing the blank page
01:22 Writing Session Act 1
02:19 Writing Session Act 2a
03:27 Writing Session Act 2b
04:20 Writing Session Act 3
There’s nothing like a good incentive to do something and for me, facing the blank page was a lot easier when I knew that I had a good decaf coffee on the way, a yummy breakfast with no dishes to clean after, and an inspiring space to work. I wrapped up on day 4 and finished the first draft of my screenplay celebrating in only the most delicious way I know how.
#screenwriting #writing
I definitely don’t live like this every day, but I did what I needed to in order to get my first draft out of the way so that the real work on my screenplay could start.
DISCLAIMER - If you purchase a product or service with the links that I provide I may receive a small commission. There is no additional charge to you! Thank you for supporting my channel :)
Writing a screenplay is not for the faint-hearted. I never thought a blank page could have so much power, and a few weeks ago I did what I needed to in preparing myself to face it. I used a combination of the beat sheet and the story circle to outline as much of my story as possible.
After the outlining phase, I couldn’t get myself to start writing. I wanted to face the blank page, but I had a few days where life seemed to be overly generous with the lemons it was shooting my way.
So, I ran away to write my screenplay.
What I use in my video:
Artlist: bit.ly/3rA67MI (get 2 extra months)
I had my beet sheet, my step outline, a summary of the two characters, and then a copy of The Holiday close by. I was excited to start this screenplay. My approach was to break the writing into sessions.
I would stretch the three-act structure of writing a screenplay over four days. As I had around 2-3 hours a day to work on my movie script, I aimed to have completed the entire first draft of my film in under 24 hours.
Chapters:
00:00 Cinematic moments
00:18 Writing Retreat
00:58 Phase 2 Outline
01:02 Facing the blank page
01:22 Writing Session Act 1
02:19 Writing Session Act 2a
03:27 Writing Session Act 2b
04:20 Writing Session Act 3
There’s nothing like a good incentive to do something and for me, facing the blank page was a lot easier when I knew that I had a good decaf coffee on the way, a yummy breakfast with no dishes to clean after, and an inspiring space to work. I wrapped up on day 4 and finished the first draft of my screenplay celebrating in only the most delicious way I know how.
#screenwriting #writing
I definitely don’t live like this every day, but I did what I needed to in order to get my first draft out of the way so that the real work on my screenplay could start.
DISCLAIMER - If you purchase a product or service with the links that I provide I may receive a small commission. There is no additional charge to you! Thank you for supporting my channel :)
