How Screenwriters Can Procrastinate Like A Pro And Become More Productive

You read that correctly. The dread P word (procrastinate) which often lurks alongside the B word (block) is all too pervasive (another P word) in the screenwriting community. There are times when we’re just not in the mood to write. Or we’re in the mood, but can’t focus our energies. The first rule of P club is to embrace it. It’s not all bad. Like all storms, they eventually go away. Not all procrastination is bad if done in a considered way.

Once you become aware of procrastination symptoms, the first thing is to accept them and take stock of its common causes.

Physical Causes

The simplest cause of procrastination is fatigue. You may have done too much writing and you’re burnt out. Or life gets in the way, so by the time you sit at your computer, you have trouble keeping your eyes open. The solution is simple. Rest.

If you’re simply distracted with other tasks, rank and curate them in terms of urgency and importance. Too much to do requires a strict time management and prioritization process. If everything is urgent and important, do them all first. That’s right. Do everything on your to do list, but assign each item a time limit – a half-hour to watch your favourite TV show or an hour to do the grocery shopping or pick up the kids. This will clear up your mind and allow you to focus on your writing tasks more productively when you get back to it. Make sure every entry on your to do list should be there. “Like to do” lists are separate.

If you bypass this process, it will ultimately take away from your writing focus.

Psychological Causes

These are more insidious and complex to address. They typically arise as a result of a mismatch between what you think you should achieve and what you can reasonably achieve in your writing. This puts undue pressure on yourself and affects your writing output. It’s not helpful. It reduces self-confidence, allows stress and anxiety to build up, and ultimately, leads to self-sabotage. Are there any external issues such as failing relationship, financial problems or personal issues such as perfectionism or fear of failure?

Photo by Jeshoots

Be kind to yourself. Acknowledge their existence and address those that you can. Otherwise let them go. If you can’t release them, let them live by your side, but don’t give them any power. Overthinking is the enemy of a productive screenwriter.

Label It As Your Healthy Time

Call procrastination your “time to slack off” without shame or guilt. Give it purpose and value. Its job is to help you clear your mind as you figure out what motivates you and what demotivates you to write. This procrastination time, although sacred, must be tightly-controlled, or your productivity will suffer in the long term.

Physical And Mental Activity

Procrastination time should ideally include activating both body and mind. Getting your body moving gets your blood flowing which oxygenates your major organs. You don’t have to run a marathon or attend a high impact circuit training class. Walking is fine. Any movement is better than sitting. While you’re invigorating your body, tap into your mind for some strategic thinking about your story.

Once that activity is complete, you can also do some industry outreach and research. Read the trades to see what projects are being set up around town. See if you recognize any names or companies you can reach out to and congratulate them. Offer them something such as casting, facilities, or equipment if you can.

Use your social media and scan industry announcements. Once you’ve touched base with people you know, you may also reach out to people with whom you’re creatively aligned and start a conversation. You may even collaborate on something.

Schedule Procrastination Times

Put it in your calendar and rigorously stick to the timings. You’re scheduled to write from 12:00 pm to 2:00pm. But it’s only 9:30 am, you’ve had your morning coffee and your chores are done. What’s more, you’re in the mood to write. Don’t. Resist the urge. What? Find something else to do until 2:00pm. Go for a walk. Call your parents. Do some gardening. Go to the gym.

Photo by Monica Sauro

It’s called controlled diversion. You know what they say about abstinence making the heart go fonder. It’s the same with screenwriting. Imagine the stellar pages you’re going to write once the clock strikes twelve and you hit your keyboard. Think of it like the excitement of building up to the countdown to New Year’s Day at the stroke of midnight.

Mind Your Moods

It’s no secret that many creatives are temperamental. If you’re experiencing writers’ block, the natural reaction might be negative – anger, self-doubt, or blaming the industry at large for not understanding your genius. This negativity will never enhance your writing. Go and do something that rebalances your mood so you feel better about your work. It could even be something as inane as organizing the pantry or filing that mountain of paperwork.

Add Psychological Distance

A key cause of procrastination is that we’re too bogged down by a particular writing task. We’ve discussed physically leaving your work space. It may also help of you create psychological distance from your script. You may write a poem, a one act play, or outline a new idea you’ve been noodling.

Be Curious

You’re writing and hit a brick wall and can’t figure out why. Familiar? Now may be a good time to do some freeform research. If you’re writing a TV show about teachers, research some innovative teaching methods such setting up a classroom in a camping site that you might include. The main modes of learning are auditory, visual, and kinesthetics (touch). Explore these in your script. Get a new perspective. Surprise yourself.

Get Into The Flow

Call it a “zone” or whatever you like. It’s a safe comfortable space free of distraction that allows you to fully immerse yourself in your writing. Typically, these bursts of productivity last from ten minutes to two hours. The latter is a more even-tempered process while the former might be an avalanche of ideas.

Reframe Your Story

Take a detour and think about flipping the protagonist and antagonist, change a female high school girl into a retired grandmother, or change the era from the present to the future. You might even subvert the genre by adding some dark comedy into your tense, gritty drama. You may ultimately return to your initial story, but rotating it through a spectrum of creative possibilities will activate your muse.

You might even use this time to brainstorm. Think about five new ways to write a car chase. Lasers, wings, invisible car, or a time portal. Some of these have been used!

Be Mindful

Focus on one task at a time. What is one character in your screenplay doing in one point in time? Don’t try to plot every character arc or decide on every plot point at the same time. Start with broad strokes and fill in the gaps.

Focus on your breathing and describe it. Is it fast or slow? Deep or shallow? Noisy or silent? Meditate. Describe the flavours of the last thing you ate. How did they make you feel?

by Staff Writer

From our in-house editorial team.