Reader Question: Is there a list of screenwriting mantras?

An open forum question from Martin Blank:

Hi Scott,

“The only way out is through” is now my favorite writing mantra! Do you have a list of them?

Ah, my writing mantras. Most of them picked up along the way from goodness knows who or where. A few I made up. I’ve posted about some of them on GITS:

Watch movies. Read screenplays. Write pages

Minimum words, maximum impact.

Trust the process.

The only way out is through.

Words are your friends.

The only rule about a first draft? Get the damn thing done!

I’ve collected a bunch of others. Unfortunately I can’t find my Word file. So a few more from memory:

Enter late, exit early.

Writing is rewriting.

Show it, don’t say it.

Writing equals butt on chair.

Go into the story and find the animals.

Per the latter, that’s from my son Luke who is the inspiration for this blog:

Awhile back the night before I started writing my next screenplay, on a whim I asked my three-year-old son if he had any advice. He looked at me with his huge blue eyes and without hesitation said, “Go into the story, and find the animals.” I laughed — pretty funny. Over time, however, I’ve discovered wisdom in my son’s words. As writers, we do, indeed, go into the stories we create. And the animals? How about characters, plot, theme, dialogue, subtext, and all those other mysterious, magical creatures prowling in the jungle of our imaginations?

I’ll do my best to find that Word doc. In the interim, what are your writing mantras?

Comment Archive