10 Things I Learned Writing For 30 Days Straight
I spent 30 days writing and conceptualizing a short film for the NO DRAMA contest by Monkey Paw, Universal, and TIFF in February of this year. Something about this floored me, it might have been the hard deadline, the $50,000 toward production, or maybe the call to answer “What is your biggest fear?”. Something inside me said, “You have to do this”, so I promised myself I would try. For 30 days I wrote, scribbled, and played with the answer to the question “What is your biggest fear? What monsters lurk in the deepest corners of your inner thoughts?”. Admittedly I had some rust to shake off at the beginning, but as I delved deeper into the story I quickly limbered up those writing muscles. Throughout the experience, I was reminded of some obvious things that writers sometimes forget. So, in no particular order, here are 10 obvious things I learned writing for 30 days.
Original concept art
1. Consistency is key KING
Stephen King was right. You have to show up and put the work in every day, no matter what. Just sit your ass down and write. Writing when I wasn’t feeling “inspired” gave me much more than words on the page. Every day I forced myself to write, I began to see all the things that weren’t working and it helped me find the things that were. Ideas start with blue-sky thinking but flourish with discipline and structure.2. Beat it
Beat out your entire story. Don’t beat it to death but get close enough. Beats are those moments that propel the story forward. They are tools to help you build suspense and drama. You need to know where your story is going before you get anywhere near writing FADE IN. A roadmap makes the actual writing process fun as you see your story come to life.3. The vomit draft is the first course
That first draft is just for you. That’s the only person that is going to read it. So you should revel in it and get as much down as you can. Do you want to describe every leaf on the tree? Let your Tolkien freak flag fly. Lines and lines of exposition? Go for it. Whatever gets you from the beginning to the end of the story while having fun. This is the clay, worry about shaping things more thoroughly later.4. Writer's block is a blessing
It’s the best thing that can happen to you because you’re facing CONFLICT. You’re experiencing the same thing that your character should be. It’s important to look at writer’s block not as that you have nowhere to go but that you have everywhere to go. It’s your job as a writer to go and explore.5. Write what you want to know
Writing what you know is sensible advice but I don’t think you should limit yourself. You should have the courage and curiosity to explore topics that interest you. Before I started writing my short, I knew little about cryonics. It’s not exactly a subject they teach every day in school. As I researched and learned more about the history, science, and culture around my subject it ended up helping me flesh out themes and the world in ways I never expected.6. Who, What, Why, and What
Figure out these 4 things for every single character. Who are they? What do they want? Why do they want it? What are they willing to do for it? You might think you know the answers to these questions but more often than not they can change and morph the further into the process you go. That’s a good thing! These are tools to have if you come up against writer's block.7. Writing is rewriting
Simplifying your story is HARD, but it’s also the best thing you can do. Once your closed-door draft is done, cut out what isn’t working. Be ruthless and be critical. Your goal here is to refine and take your ideas to the next level.8. Seeing is believing
Concept art, movie stills, and references are your friends. Pull your art supplies out and make a collage of colours and images that you see and feel in your story. I was lucky enough to work with a concept artist (Not AI) while I was crafting the story and it helped me envision and define the world clearly in my writing.9. Not all feedback is equal
You should be thoughtful about who you share your first draft with and solicit feedback from, especially in the early stages. Not your overindulgent door closed vomit draft but your real first draft. Everyone wants the feedback on their first draft to be “Amazing, no notes, best thing I’ve ever read” but let’s be real… that won’t happen. Very few people can give quality feedback on those early drafts; when you find them you should cherish them.10. best idea wins
Ideas and inspiration come from everywhere. The more you close yourself off to outside inspiration, the more creative solutions and possibilities you will lose. So often we stick to a character, plot or idea because it’s “ours”. You’ll get suggestions from early readers, some good and some bad, but no matter what, the best idea wins even if it wasn’t yours in the first place! Take everything in and be a filter for your story. Give it the things it needs to flourish.These things seem obvious, but hindsight is indeed 20/20. The basics are always worth refreshing before you start any new project. Sometimes you lose sight of them when you’re in the thick of the creative process. You’re sitting there trying to make a square peg fit in a round hole and too often we forget to take a step back, breathe deep and reevaluate the situation.
My Final Draft Beat Board before I started writing the script.
