Think of Your Spec Like an Assignment

So if you’ve been bit by the procrastination bug…
Or the Voices Of Negativity have squashed your ambition…
Or you’re just not feeling creatively inspired about your most recent spec script…

Rojo Mayne over in Zero Draft Thirty Facebook group has this suggestion?

The way I try to think of it, is like an OWA I just landed as a newbie writer in Hwood. If you hate the story, if you hate the dev. execs, if you hate each page you are or aren’t writing, it doesn’t matter, IT’S YOUR JOB TO FINISH IT.

Of course there are a million reasons not to, in our own homes right now with our own specs, but for me, for my mindset, I’m not gonna just say, “Oh, well yeah, if it were a writing job in the industry of course I would finish it.”

Because if I don’t stay after practice and shoot those free throws, how the hell am I going to make them in the clutch of the game.

Break some lead!!

OWA stands for Open Writing Assignment. The concept here is for you to think about your spec script as if it were a writing assignment. Studio waiting for you. Due date and all. My response:

Rojo Mayne, that’s a really great point. Because in truth, when you break in, you will almost assuredly have to write projects which are not terribly interesting. You start at the bottom of the development food chain and work your way up.

True story which you can read about here.

I once wrote a project based on the bubble gum comic character Bazooka Joe. Imagine yourself trying to find inspiration to write THAT! But I did.

So great idea: Think of this spec script you’re struggling with as an writing assignment you’ve landed. And it’s your job to finish it!

Some folks might fight this approach as too daunting, put too much pressure on them. Fair enough. But the reality is if your aspiration is to write in Hollywood, you have to be able to produce a script in a timely fashion. So why not get started with that mindset now?

If you wish to join the Zero Draft Thirty Facebook group, go here. Between GITS, Twitter (@GoIntoTheStory), and the ZDT Facebook group, there’s tons of information… and inspiration!