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The best thing a writer can experience is to finish a script. And when I saw finish I mean you've done a bunch of drafts and it's out there, either being sent to agents and managers who will represent it or producers and studios who will want to make it.
It's very satisfying indeed.
But the very completion of a script sets you up for the horrible realization that you have to get started on the next one.
Maybe you've got one idea or a bunch of them. Maybe you don't have any which is really problematic.
But even if you have a couple of ideas that you've made preliminary notes on or even started an outline or even if it's just a sentence or two that gives a vague idea of the storyline...whatver you have, getting to the point where you can actually start writing can be difficult.
Primarily because the characters and plot of the thing you finished are still in your head. Getting a new plot and new characters into your head is difficult and maddening.
Not only are you trying to ease the old plot and characters out, but you're on pins and needles waiting for some feedback on your script.
Frankly, you're not in the right frame of mine to even think about writing. You're preoccupied. Being preoccupied never helped anybody write anything.
If there's a solution to this problem, it's basically to view the first few days or even couple of weeks after you've finished something as down town. Take a vacation. Catch up on your reading. Go to movies. Veg out. Put everything having to do with shop out of your mind.
You'll find that with each passing day your head will be clearer. You'll be able to focus better. You'll be able to look at the new ideas you're considering with a fresh eye. You'll be looking at the script you just finished as just that: a script that you worked hard on that's now "out there" trying to find a good place to land.
Your work is done on that one (until you get a deal or your new agent wants a rewrite) and you're ready psychologically to get started all over again.
Whatever you do, don't be hard on yourself for that first couple of weeks.
Be nice to yourself. You'll be able to start the next project with a happier and healthier mindset. |
