Hi @peachie-blossom,

This is actually a common problem. Sometimes it stems from the fact that the original idea simply isn’t enough for a film or it’s not interesting enough. In those cases, it’s completely natural for those ideas to remain unfinished forever (or later incorporated in another story).

In other cases, I have found stories are mainly abandoned because 1) the writer forgets why they liked the idea in the first place, and 2) the writer doesn’t have a deadline, schedule, or anyone to hold them accountable. These tend to go hand in hand, because when writing becomes difficult, it’s much harder to push through when there is no pressure to finish the story. So, that makes my first suggestion:

Find someone to hold you accountable. This can be anything from telling a friend you will get a first draft to them by a certain date, to writing a story for a class/work, to planning to submit to a screenwriting contest. The point is to have outside pressure to get your story done. Deadlines are stressful, but they make sure we get things done.

Pick just one story. It’s easy to get distracted when you are brainstorming for one story and have ten different ideas for other films. It’s natural and you should let it happen, but don’t let it derail you. Write down those “extra” ideas as they come to you and set them aside. (I like to use a notebook to hold all of my misc. ideas and I put ideas relevant to my current project in a google doc dedicated to the specific film.)

Make a game plan. Make a schedule that is reasonable for you and give yourself checkpoints along the way. For instance, you can set weekly goals to have the outline complete, character biographies created, or script pages written. Every year I host a screenplay challenge that consists of weekly assignments that walk through all the steps of writing a short film. I keep the posts up on their own page with the tag #screenplay challenge specifically so people can reference them for their own projects and adjust the time frame and requirements as necessary. If you’re looking for planning ideas, it’s a good place to start.

Ask for help. Everyone gets stuck when writing and often you can’t push through it by yourself. Join a screenwriting group, participate in workshops, ask professors, friends, family, and professionals for feedback or suggestions. Often, other people will be able to identify problems (and solutions) that you never thought of before.

Tell people about your project. Not only does it generate interest, but it renews your excitement for the project every time you talk to people about it. And if other people are excited for the film, that’s even more motivation and positive energy to help you focus on your story. It has the added benefit of practicing pitching your film and really getting to the heart of the story you want to tell.

Best of luck and happy writing!

Next Steps in the Story

Technically speaking, The Satryrrian is truly another project of mine. As it takes shape, I find ways to continue its growth and to better organize its content.

You don’t have to know the ultimate, final form of a project at the start. You do have to start the project though; otherwise, it isn’t possible to get anywhere with it. You want to build something? A book? A computer? Something else?

In…