A friend of mine sent me this article because she thought it applied to screenwriters well; it does and it doesn’t. The article was “Increase Productivity and Reach Your Goals. Why You Should Not Eat the Elephant One Bite at a Time. ” posted by Dumb Little Man.com
Essentially, it said that instead of tackling a large overwhelming task one bite at a time, you should recruit other people to work on other tasks to help you get it done a lot faster.
What I love about this article is the fact that he’s showing us a new way to tackle a bigger project. Depending on where you’re at with your career or what you want to accomplish, this approach could work for you.
If you’re just starting out and you’re having difficulty just finishing your first script, then perhaps partnering with another writer might create the momentum you need to get it done. Maybe you realize you don’t want to write it at all and you hire someone to write it.
If you’re struggling to get your work produced, maybe you could partner with a group of actors and crew to produce a short or feature or something to get your work done. Or gather a group of writers who all want to establish themselves and all agree to create a webseries together where each of you writes one episode. The only time you won’t be able to use this approach is if you want to be a screenwriter who writes his own work.
Even Hollywood projects have multiple writers; someone to develop the story, someone to write the script, someone to rewrite the script, someone to rewrite the script again. But this is a linear approach. Where they get collaborative is in the development: the producer finds the A-list cast, crew and money, the casting director finds the cast, the director breaks down the project needs, etc..
If you’re going to partner with someone, choose someone who challenges you, someone committed who won’t make you do all the work or drag his heels or let you down and take all the credit when it’s done. There are a lot of people out there wanting to get something made, but not a lot of people have the tenacity, dedication and perseverance it takes to write a script. You do. Don’t let anyone undermine the value of that.
Take what you can from this article and see if it can help you find ways to boost your productivity. Maybe you get an idea that has nothing to do with finishing the writing part of your project, but rather is something that can help you get it made. You could hire someone to build a website or promote your project on social media to get attention. Build a team of people to help get your career off the ground: that’s what agents and managers are for. Instead of trying to organize a reading with professional actors yourself, submit your script to organizations that do that for you. Join a writers’ group to get on-going feedback instead of trying to find people to read it all the time. Partner with someone who aspires to become a producer and let them take on the responsibility of getting it made.
Getting a script done is only part of the process, getting it made is the bigger part of the process. Finding other people who can help you get it made is a great idea. What are you going to do to get other people to help you?