Three Tips to Finish That Script (From A Non-Native English Speaker)
by Jose Ordoñez Jr.
We’ve all been there. All insecurities, fears, and essentially everything that is wrong with you, takes over as you stare at that cruel blank page. That is where most screenwriters stop. Let me backup; that’s where all wanna-be screenwriters stop. The real writers just keep going. We jump into the abyss, hoping creativity catches us before the hit.
Let me be the first to confess that I have trouble labeling myself a writer. Sure, I’ve written a couple of feature films and tons of shorts, but if anyone should fear that first blank page, it should be me. I learned how to speak English at the age of fifteen. My biggest fear growing up was rejection because of language barriers. I never made it to English honors classes despite being an honors/ AP students in every other field of study. To this day, I have never received an A in any English course. Ever. Film & Literature class in college? Yeah, I got a B- in that class.
Every time I finish a script I hand it to my wife for revisions and leave the room hoping she doesn’t secretly enroll me in an English course at Broward College. Sometimes she reads a line of dialogue, turns to me, and lovingly tells me “no one would ever say that.”
Writers just keep on writing.
Photo taken March of 2019. I was working on the fourth draft of Three Bedrooms.
I seriously get it. Probably more than you. On paper, I should not be a writer. It actually took a lot in me to start this blog. I don’t want to look stupid. And here I am. You want to know why? Because I’m a writer.
Look at that unfinished script on your desk (or Google Docs). There is a lot of resistance between you and the page. What you do next determines whether you are a writer or not; whether you have true ambitions or just wishful dreams.
I want to give you three tips to begin or finish that script. These were the rules I stuck to while writing my first feature and Three Bedrooms. If you do these three, I promise you that a printed draft will be sitting on your desk in no time.
1. Don’t write
“WE ALL WANT TO GET TO THAT PLACE WHERE THE STORY IS MOVING, REVEALING ITSELF TO USE WHILE WE’RE JUST RAPIDLY FIRING OUR FINGERS… THAT’S ONLY GOING TO COME ABOUT WHEN YOU ARE FULLY PREPARED.”
Most of the time writing is spent not writing. I wish I could say I came up with that so you too could quote me, but actually Aaron SorkinTM did. If the words aren’t coming, Aaron will stop writing, put the laptop aside, and preoccupy himself with something else (probably ESPN). If the words don’t come out, then you’re not ready to write.
Don’t get me wrong. I think writing is about exploring, and more often than not, preparation goes out the window when you’re in the zone. We all want to get to that place where the story is moving, revealing itself to us while we’re just rapidly firing our fingers. BUT. That’s only going to come about when you are fully prepared.
I’m a huge outliner. For both features I’ve written, I took a month to just explore the world. You know, do the typical log-line, synopsis, character bio, imagination, etc, etc, etc. All the boring stuff. My rule is to work on the story for a month before I actually open Final Draft. It keeps me itching, excited to start writing. This process also reveals any weak points in the story and allows my mind to brew on it. The excitement build up really helps to make my writing explode. It really is the best antidote against writer’s block.
2. Then just keep writing
“SOMETIMES YOUR BEST COURSE OF ACTION IS TO WRITE WHATEVER IS ON YOUR MIND.”
Word vomiting is a thing. Sometimes your best course of action is to write whatever is in your mind. Cheesy one-liner? Just puke it; slap it on the page and move on. If your fingers are moving, then you’re writing.
This one is very counterintuitive for me. I am, to my own detriment, a perfectionist. My first attempt at writing a feature was in 2017. Correction: my first attempt at writing and rewriting the first fifteen pages of a feature was in 2017. That feature will never see the light of day. I thought I could perfect my way into writing a rough draft, but my obsessive behavior actually worked against what I was trying to accomplish.
All writing is rewriting. You have to accept that your rough draft sucks. And that’s okay! What you do next, all the nit-picking and polishing, is what will make your script worth reading.
3. Follow a page-per-day schedule
“3 PAGES A DAY FOR 30 DAYS EQUALS 90 PAGES. BOOM. DONE.”
I’m going to write a book called “Write Your Screenplay In 30 Days!!!” I’ll fill it with a bunch of crap and capitalize on my biz so I can make another feature. If you’re smart enough to buy that book, you’re smart enough to know that 3 pages a day for 30 days equals 90 pages. BOOM. Done.
This rule I really followed for the first feature I wrote. My rule was to write at least three pages per day. Here’s the catch: there’s no catching up. I could get ahead and write six pages a day, and then skip a day, but I couldn’t skip three pages today and promise to write six tomorrow. My recommendation is to start day one writing six pages to leave buffer time. You don’t have to write on the weekends either. Just do six five-day weeks.
What’s so awesome about this rule is that you can impose a deadline on your script. That will really give you the motivation you need to get it done.
That’s it! Follow those three rules and you’ll have your yucky rough draft that you then get to workshop for six torturous months. Yay!
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