It Begins

And I'm back...

I'm finally back at my desk full-time after seven months part-time, while my dear lady wife was on maternity leave, and to mark the occasion I've started a new feature screenplay. There's nothing quite like the feeling of starting a new script and even though I've spent months planning it, it has already begun to grow a life of its own. Nearly twelve pages in and characters are starting to change from how I envisioned them, scenes have relocated to new places and personalities have started to affect how characters act and react.

That's what I love about the first drafts; they have a way of running away from you, in directions you never expected, even if you have meticulously planned every detail before hand. They're very experimental, very organic by nature and you shouldn't be worried if your screenplay does go off in unexpected directions. Let it!

With your fist draft you're just finding your way, fleshing out your story and characters, seeing how it all fits together, or doesn't. This is the most glorious time for a writer, to be able to just put words on pages, letting them flow from your unconscious, allowing them to be born, to breath and grow. I know of so many writers who can't resist the urge to go back and immediately rewrite what they've just put on paper, forcing their words to conform to their story. The first draft is the time to get your ideas, all of them, on to the page, even ones that come to you as you write. Reigning in those ideas and tidying up will come with later when you rewrite; you can worry about such things then.

For now celebrate your creativity and let yourself go. It's a wild ride, so enjoy it.