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Do you find that some days you can churn out a serious batch of pages. To me that would be 7-10. Other days you might get one or two. Then there's those days you get none. Or you get a few, but you know they suck so you delete them or convince yourself that you'll rewrite them down the line.
Even if you got 7 pages on a given day--7 good pages--you should be pleased. Getting 7 good pages every day means that you'd complete a screenplay in 15,16 or 17 days (going under the assumption you don't want to exceed 120 pages).
If we're honest we know we don't get 7 good pages every day. Maybe never. I know there are writers who write 20 or 30 pages one day, then are blocked for the next week (or month) until they write another 20 or 30. If this is how they work, cool.
Most of the screenwriters I know have totally different approaches. A few pages a day. A few pages a week. Lots of thinking. Lots of being angry and frustrated. Lots of finding ways to drag themselves to the computer and forcing themselves to write.
The point is this: forget about 7 good pages a day. If you can get 7 good pages a week you're doing fine. If some weeks you get more, even better. And if some weeks you get less, the weeks you got more will balance it out.
When you're lucky enough to be hired to write a script you're given a deadline. And it's sooner rather than later. Maybe 10 or 12 weeks. Maybe less. When you're being paid for your services there's no time to piss and moan about not being able to write. If you don't deliver you'll be fired and somebody else will be turning in the pages.
If you can get 7 pages a week for 4 months you'll have a script. If you can get that draft in 3 months, even better. I'm all for screenwriters taking their time and revising and reshaping and all that good stuff...but my advice is to get through the first draft as quickly as possible and spend the serious time on the rewrite.
I wish you pages. |
