When we fall in love with our prose sometimes we don't think about why the sentence, paragraph or scene is actually there. And that can really fuck up what would otherwise be a good piece of writing. 

Before I worked on shows and before I taught writing classes, I took a bunch of writing classes. I learned a lot. And from the many classes I took I can boil something down for you so you don't have to take the same amount of classes. Put your work to an Intention Test and see what stays and let go of what some of us might refer to as "the fat."  

For the Intention Test, ask yourself these five questions:

-What is my intention for this Scene/Page/Chapter? 
-Why is this Scene/Page/Chapter here? What is the point of it?
-Does this Scene/Page/Chapter move the story forward?
-Does this Scene/Page/Chapter offer any new information/characters?
-If this Scene/Page/Chapter wasn't here, would anyone miss it (other than me?)

I think this could be helpful and help pry your addiction to Sentimentality away from its grasp. We get sentimental about our writing. We fall in love with our lines. As many writers complain about writing, often, I think secretly many of us kinda fall in love with our writing. I can't tell you the amount of times I've  heard a writer say, But I really liked this. There are so many things I really liked too. But streamlining, getting to the point, etc., makes pieces flow and readers love you for it. There is no excuse for dense, bogged down writing that has no real point and gives the reader the excuse to walk away.

Don't let them go! You do have power over your reader and you do have power over your weaker inclinations! The solution is to use The Intention Test, grow a pair and make some fans! 

-CGD

Mindless activities, doncha just love em? I putter mainly in my kitchen. But really, the whole house is game when I'm in that frame of mind. And the reason I'm not going to list the many many ways one can putter is because it's so BORING POINTLESS AND USELESS! Which is actually the definition of puttering.
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Here's why I am writing about puttering on a blog dedicated to writing: it's because I recently “diagnosed” a fellow writer as being a putterer in his writing process. Puttering easily can be done while toiling away on your script or novel. This guy desperately wants to be done with his book so he can show it to an editor for feedback but he just keeps going over little chapters, moments and areas because a few months ago he came up with a newly realized emotional thru-line. He just wants to make sure all the tracks are laid down nicely. 

a few months ago…

Classic Putterer. His precious writing sessions are stagnating because while he's ensuring this one thing is covered in each and every nook and cranny, he’s getting lost. He’s doing word counts, changing buts to howevers, wrestling with where to put new and exciting commas. He’s wasting precious time!

I'm not judging him. I do it with scripts. I'm like "Oh wait a minute, so and so is gonna have to say this thing and have this attitude in that old scene so this new scene makes sense." CUT TO: An hour later. Yeah, I addressed that, I also wrote a bunch of new material (most of which won't stay) and I looked at the jeans on sale at Madewell, put items in my cart and then didn't buy anything (a whole other level of puttering).

Art is war, remember? And to get past enemy lines and reap the spoils of the war you have to strategically move forward, neutralize the bad men and get a bunch of accolades, saving lives along the way (including your own).

But what about that niggling thing that happens when you do have a great new emotional thru-line that was only realized while you were halfway through your piece? That feeling of "I just have to make sure it’ll make sense! Let me do that, for the love of God!"

HERE IS THE SECRET TO FIGHTING THE PUTTER NUDGE:

Create a document called "MUST MAKE SURE." Your "Must Make Sure" Document reminds you of all the things you must make sure are in your work before you present it to anyone. That way nothing falls through the cracks and you have no excuse but to keep moving forward. When you're done with your current draft, you'll do a pass for each item listed in your "Must Make Sure" document, spot checking that the thing that has to be there, is. 

It's not easy. Because of course a part of you will fight this every time a new idea emerges. You'll think I just have to do this one thing. Honey, that's putter talk and you’re above that. Now.

Of course you might be the rare putterer who has found puttering is a part of your process. In fact you do get a lot of shit done despite of or even because of your puttering... Okay. That's fair. But if you're like me, puttering serves little to no purpose and you don't need another unfinished piece of writing in your drawer to prove it. 

Like Boston says,

The sun is shinin'
The clouds are breakin'
Cause I can't lose now, there's no game to play

And if you can't trust Boston, who can you trust? They finished songs and they even wrote a song about it. They were like the first anti-putterers.

​-CGD

I think I've cleaned the house 20,000 times and in doing so I must have concluded in some manner - conscious or otherwise - that that was a better use of my time than writing one good sentence, one great joke, one good scene. It was also a better use of my time than attempting to write one good anything and not succeeding.

I'm here to say, none of it was a better use of my time despite what the outcome might have been. Being a writer means accepting you're not always going to be in the sweet spot. Some sessions might just be shit. That's the truth. They might just be shit and the truth is THEY'RE STILL WORTH IT. They're certainly more worthy than cleaning the stove. (really, who cares about the stove? And whoever that is, do you really want to be friends with them?). 

The secret to writing is... finish that sentence. Did you say rewriting? Yes! Of course it is! But there are many secrets to writing and one of them that kinda shines above all others is showing up for it. The secret to writing might just be writing.

Each time you show up, the chances of it being shit or not run about 50/50. When you don't show up, having anything good in your quiver has about a 0% chance.

I have a lot of resolutions. Some have nothing to do with writing. And I can hear some irritating person say, "Doesn't everything have to do with writing?" Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever, irritating person you shush up. But I will tell you, one real resolution that I do have and am putting down here to be super clear about it and risk vulnerability, is this year I am committing to finishing our screenplay and getting it read for feedback and for selling.

The important part of the equation in my resolution is when I say "finishing" it means I'm going to have to show up for it, no matter what. Nobody's gonna read half an anything.

Which means I'll have to move my schedule around, bargain with my husband, hire a sitter when necessary - basically it means doing whatever it takes to meet my goal. And that, In actuality, takes so little. When I was in writer’s rooms on shows we had a saying when we felt fried, “We’re not digging ditches.” Writing might be “hard” but come on, it’s not that hard.

So yeah. That’s it. I’m committing to simply showing up. I don't have to write 8 hours in the day (never gonna happen) and I don't have to make every scene perfect, I just have to show up and work with my partner towards crossing the finish line. That is achievable and that will get done.
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That's all I got for me and for you. Feel free to share your goals in the comments - might help you stick to them - and it might just be another day and another night and yes, time is bullshit and not real but for what it’s worth:
HAPPY NEW YEAR!

-CGD

Okay so just by writing that title it occurs to me not everyone does an outline. There are a lot of different ways to approach writing and some script writers just don't like or do outlines. And full disclosure, I have written successful scripts without them. But if you have a complex story, are juggling many plot lines, and let's face it, if it's a screenplay, when you skip the outline, you run the risk of writing a 250 page or a 30 page script. Or you quit. Which sucks. It just does -- you had that spark, that good idea, you were all excited, but then you just dove in without thinking. It's like jumping off a diving board into a pool that doesn't have enough water. Head first.

"BUT THE WATER WAS SO BLUE!"

Uh huh. Very smart, Maria, very smart.

So....

Not only do I recommend writing an outline, but then when you're in script, I recommend doing everything you can to adhere to it. I love freedom in writing of course, and new ideas can and do arise as you're in script, but if you've really done your job in constructing a solid blueprint that means you have thought a lot about the different reasons to put this story point in this particular place, etc. You may not remember all the logic that went into your outline when you're in the script but your former self, while writing the outline, wasn't in the glamor-part of writing but was instead doing the heavy lifting; the heavy lifting of thinking. 

Scriptwriting is usually the fun "glamor part." The outline is the blue collar job. It's the foundation. The hard stuff. The unromantic, thinky, logic part. It's also the shit that makes the script job run smoothly. Imagine building a building without a blueprint. Super obvi analogy but it works.

In my humble opinion, outlines are essential. It's the time you've dedicated to thinking through story, characters, tone, every possible turn and twist, while also, making sure you're pinpointing what needs to be there at that moment and why, so that the story moves forward and that people who are reading what you've written (and ultimately watching it) stay engaged.

AGAIN

My advice doesn't mean divine inspiration shouldn't be heard when in script. But think before you do. If I decide to put in new material, which of course happens and should and is welcome, it's with real acknowledgement of what happened before the sparkly new idea. How does the sparkly new idea affect my outline? Can I recall the reason the outline was as it was before adding the new element to the script? What are the future ramifications, ultimately meaning, if said new sparkly idea gets in is there a domino effect? Is it not only worth it, does it make it better? 

Adhering to the outline means cooler heads prevail. It's your head and it's cool.

I used to teach a class in this stuff and lately I've realized oh my God, what I told those students wasn't just b.s. I'm sticking to my outline like glue and I'm having forward momentum. I want that for you, too.
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Onward!

-CGD

So a client is a finalist in one of those contests that everyone wants to win - the type of thing that could really catapult a writing career. They have a process where she's asked to rewrite her submission via notes from a mentor. Well, she's working on a rewrite of her submission (which by the way is awesome) as well as another project for a writing class. All the deadlines are fast approaching...

TIME. Time is so annoying.

It sometimes seems close to impossible to get a writing session done. You can have a deadline which for many helps - but really - time is a bitch. If you have any life whatsoever - kids, big job, whatever - it can feel really frikken hard to, simply put, get your work done.

In life there are a lot of problems but even more solutions.

I remember hearing Jojo Moyes talk about how her husband at like 5am or some ungodly hour, would bring her coffee in bed and she'd start her sessions, barely awake. And recently I was reading in his final book to his Struggle series, how Karl Ove Knausgaard also starts ridiculously early before he deals with his kids. These are published people so it's good to pay attention to what works. What works is writing when you can and what also works is writing before you have awareness of the millions of other things you could be doing instead. 

Early morning. The sun is not even out yet really. The brain is fresh from sleep the house is quiet the computer awaits...

I see mornings as the ultimate time to write anything. My partner and I can't always write, and when we do, it's on the phone and sharing our documents via Google docs. One other constant is this happens most mornings at 9:30 am and to me that's late!

Oddly, I believe, if you have somewhat of a healthy lifestyle, like you go to bed relatively early, don't screentime yourself into madness before bed, and wake up super early and cut off the wifi before you start your project, you can get your stuff done. Why is that odd? It seems counter to everything people really do lately with their day and their time. But taking care of yourself and being an early to rise type could mean getting your scriptnovelessay done. 

End of story -- that's the goal. 

-CGD