“Writing is a process of discovery”

“Writing really is a process of discovery. The biggest enemy is being satisfied. When I think, ‘Oh, this is so great. They can’t change a word. They’ve got to film it exactly like this,’ that’s when I know I’m not pushing hard enough. That’s when you have to be most suspicious.”

This from screenwriter William Broyles, Jr., and truer words may have never been spoken. A first draft is a lot of things, a damned hard hurdle to overcome being one of them, but fundamentally it is about discovery: plot, subplots, characters, themes, pace, tone, and so on. First draft, you surface as much as you can.

But even as you head toward FADE OUT, you must know that in your rewrites, you can not be satisfied with what you’ve written. You have to dig deeper. You have to push yourself. Yes, you must even be suspicious.

That is for then. For now in this first draft, discover everything you can about your story.

Remember:

“Writing is a process of discovery.”

I encourage you to head to comments to discuss today’s questions. And for a related discussion on The Black Board, check out these topics:

• Do you surprise yourself?
• Knowing vs not knowing
• Making discoveries with index cards
• Surfacing moments
• Surfacing motifs
• Surfacing talismans

The Quest” has entered Week 22! And so did Go On Your Own Quest, an opportunity for anyone to follow the structure of “The Quest” to dig into screenwriting theory [Core — 8 weeks], figure out your story [Prep — 6 weeks], and write a first draft [Pages — 10 weeks]. It’s a 24-week immersion in the screenwriting process and you can do it here — for free!

Today and every Monday through Friday for 10 weeks, I’ll use this slot to post something inspirational as GOYOQ participants pound out their first drafts.

Why not use the structure of this 24-week workshop to Go On Your Own Quest? That was an idea that gathered energy among many members of the GITS community which I described here.

For more information on Go On Your Own Quest, go here.

Plus you can join The Black Board, the Official Online Writing Community of the Black List and Go Into The Story, another free resource to help keep you inspired and on target at you Go On Your Own Quest from FADE IN to FADE OUT on the first draft of your original screenplay.

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