“People have writer’s block not because they can’t write, but because they despair of writing eloquently.” – Anna Quindlen
My tendency is to try to write an excellent first draft of a screenplay. I reason to myself that my rewriting will be less painful if I get my best stuff on the page the first time through. One major problem arises from this mindset – I fret over the first words so much that I often get no words on the page.
Ms. Quindlen’s observation couldn’t fit me much better. I’m in a constant battle with myself to turn off the censor, douse the inner editor, and muzzle the relentless perfectionist ensconced in the nether regions of my brain. They are only welcome at the late draft parties, yet they crash the early ones.
How do I defeat my counterproductive habits that disallow quantitative writing? This short list from Dr. Format himself, Dave Trottier, may be a good place to start.
And really… no matter how hard I try, the first draft always sucks. That’s just the way it is.
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