“The only way out is through”
Among the responses to the recent writing question “What’s the best piece of writing advice,” daveed answered, “In writing the first draft: “the only way out is through”. Can’t recall where I picked that up from, though…”
Perhaps it came here on GITS.
Here is that original post. Well worth a second read:
When all is said and done, a writer really has only one goal with regard to the first draft of their script — Get the damn thing done!
I will grant you, “Get the damn thing done” is a rather legalistic, even obnoxious approach to writing, oozing with negative reinforcement. So let me give you a softer, more intuitive iteration of the same principle, one of my favorite screenwriting mantras:
“The only way out is through.”
The only way to find the story is to go through the entire writing process. If you don’t, you won’t.
In my experience, there are two big reasons why aspiring screenwriters fail to complete screenplays:
The first and most common cause is that they don’t do enough in the Preparatory Writing stage (brainstorming, research, plotting, character development). Oh, most young screenwriters spend sufficient time in preparation to move into the Page Writing stage, and knock out a 30-page first act, but once they head into Act II, they get lost. That’s almost always because they haven’t spent enough time/energy working on story structure, characters, theme, and all the rest in preparing to write.
But even if the fledgling screenwriter has pounded out page after page of character biographies, story treatments, and outlines, a second reason why they give up writing their script is that once they get lost — what seemed to make sense in theory isn’t working in practice — the novice writer panics:
“Oh, no! My story is confused! My characters are wandering! My dialogue is flat! I feel lost! Ahhhh!”
Either scenario provides ample enough angst and turmoil to crush a writer’s will, and drive a stake into and through your screenplay’s heart.
This is where you must learn to Trust The Process. And your first lesson is to believe the truth in the following statement:
“The only way out is through.”
This idea is an invitation to you — your Creative Self, your Writer Self — to have faith in you, your instincts, the story you are seeking, your writing process.
If you summon up a sufficient level of self-trust, enough to compel you from FADE IN to FADE OUT, you will find your story.
Repeat after me: You will find your story.
Finish your first draft.
It may not be a polished script.
It may be nowhere near submitting to agents and buyers.
It may well be, in fact, a mess.
But this is what you will find in the first draft process:
- Your plot will start to take shape
- Your characters will start to come into focus
- Your themes will start to emerge
You will have the foundation upon which you can successfully write a finished screenplay.
All because you pushed yourself from FADE IN to FADE OUT.
All because you trusted in the truth of this statement:
“The only way out is through.”