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3rd Annual November Write Club: The Key is to Just Write

NETFLIX ANNOUNCEMENT
Posted by Nick Assunto
The ides of November are here and it's time to count pages. I'm at 44, and have been for about week. I felt stuck and haven't quite progressed in my latest feature. This one is new for me, and it's scaring me a little. I typically write comedy, albeit horror comedy, sci-fi comedy, action comedy, and things that are full of humor and don't take themselves too seriously. I wanted to challenge myself this month by writing one of my favorite genres of all time, the sci-fi adventure film. Yes, that dreaded Star Wars territory.
 
I've been fully outlined for months, so was eager to begin my writing, but once I hit the halfway point I started second guessing myself. With the added pressure of booking myself a small theater to put up a live table read in less than two weeks for the FINISHED draft of this script, well, I've been on the edge of losing my mind. And that, my friends, is when the confidence started coming back.
 
See, I don't believe in writer's block. I just believe in blocking yourself by thinking too much, or more accurately overthinking. Every time I find myself not writing it's because I'm thinking, replaying the same scene over and over again in my head instead of just putting it on the page. I think all of us want our writing to be perfect at the first go of it, and that's really going to slow us down.
 
The key is to just write. It doesn't matter if it's not the perfect scene. It doesn't matter if it's not exactly where you wanted your outline to go. What matters is that you just do it. You can always go back and improve upon it later. That's the beauty of writing. We can't finish a draft if we're too busy worrying about that draft being the final product.
 
So with that being said, stop reading this. Quit surfing the net and thinking about writing, and just go write. There's still an entire half of a month left to get your draft done! You've all got this! I've got this! At least, that's what I have to tell myself. And who cares if I'm wrong? In the end I'll still be getting work done.
 
Even if I don't make my deadline I still have those pages in, pages I can expand, and work on. Building something from nothing can be a daunting task, but only when we're busy worrying about it. The moment we start writing all the worry goes away. There's no time to panic, no time to overthink, there's just the scene. So get to it!
 
 
3rd Annual November Write Club The Key is to Just Write
 
About Nick Assunto
Nick Assunto is part of the Stage 32 script services team. He was previously a first and second round reader for the Austin Film Festival for three years, and this past year was a writer for the 2017 CBS Diversity Sketch Comedy Showcase. He holds a B.A. in Theater from Salve Regina University with a focus in playwriting. Nick also studied improv and sketch comedy at UCB in both New York and Los Angeles from 2007-2016 where he also co-hosted the Sunday show B.Y.O.T. for a time at UCB Sunset's Inner Sanctum. Though writing is his passion, Nick has also dabbled in acting, having been featured on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, an eHarmony commercial directed by Limp Bizkit's Fred Durst (for real), and is infamously known as Tony, the annoying party member from the 'Four Friends' Elder Scrolls spots.
 

 

Please share your thoughts, feelings, ask craft questions, offer help, provide tips and possible resources in the comment section below. Let’s support, inspire and cheer each other on throughout our 30-Day endeavors. And, to stay on track for next week, here is to the 3rd Annual November Write Club Screenwriting Lounge Thread.

And, please share this blog on social media to encourage and inspire other writers to participate.

 

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