These days I’m working on the script for a long feature film. Those who have written novels or long scripts know what a challenge this is.
In the past years I have written lots of short film scripts and i realize more than ever what a different process this is.
When writing short film scripts I have the flexibility to try different things at once, to literally write drafts in a day, in a moment of inspiration. It is almost like writing a poem. A great short film can be created from a single inspiring trunk to which we can add branches to enrich it and give it depth.
But writing a long feature film is a completely different story. It is not anymore about communicating one specific message, a self contained idea that can arise one day and end up in a draft the next.
Writing a long feature film or a novel requires a lot of discipline. One has a great idea, a brave seed and the process begins. But during the next days the usual distractions come to haunt us. Other jobs, deadlines, family issues, friends, trips. And if there is one thing i have learnt is that stopping for a few days this process can be fatal. A few days can easily become a year before you realize!
So discipline is as essential as inspiration. And there is a fine line between discipline and being too hard on oneself of course (getting burned by the process).
One strategy is to just try to allocate a certain range of time to the project every day or every 2 days, without obsessing, letting the idea and the project grow inside of you, slowly, organically, but taking care of it as if you were taking care of a plant. You don’t leave your plant without water for a week! That makes sense, doesn’t it. So we can say the same about our novel or script. It requires nourishment and attention. And if we make that effort, sooner than we realize that first draft will be completed. That’s where i am right now. The first draft has been finished.
Wait, don’t congratulate me so fast. Now begins the next phase, the second draft.. third draft.. fourth draft :)… fifth… 🙂