Screenwriting : Rule # 231: no excuses! write like a champion. by Steven Morris

Lunch. I get 1hr, so I write while I'm eating. I can usually get two to four pages. When I get home I transcribe the pages to electronic form. I've found that the Kindle Fire has one of the best/most accurate voice to text features. There are some gotchas with numbers and some words but for the most part you can finish a draft with little to no typing. The main issue is that you have to have internet access to use it. It speeds up my writing which saves time.

I get up before the sun. Every time I have to stop at 7 am to get ready for my day job, I die a little inside, but I find that it's the only time in the day I can count on. Sometimes I can write on my lunch break or at night after work, but you never know what procrastinations the day can bring. I'm a morning person anyway, so at least I know I'm getting my time in when I do it first thing.

I write nearly exclusively on an iPad. Train trips, bus rides, coffee breaks, pretty much anywhere. The biggest skill I developed was getting into my zone in minutes. I can think of problems when I am not writing. Voice memos and Notes on my phone for dot points. This gives me about 90 mins a day on average.

Thanks for the great advice. I haven't tried any kind of voice to text so I'll have to try that. I do scribble here and there. Perhaps, I'll try to pause 15 - 30 mins to write, sort of like little breaks. And I use to be obsessed with Pepsi but not as good for your skin so I switched lol.

Find the time or don't sleep. You gotta keep writing and searching for stories that you are passionate about, theme's and genre , characters that in some way you connect emotionally with. Write, write, write. Read screenplay, go back to the one you finished two months ago and edit / rewrite. You gotta do it!

John Hughes used to wake up at 2:00 a.m. to write his screenplays while he had a day job. If someone wants something bad enough, they'll make the sacrifices to find the time.

BTW, Steven , check out my last content share. Well here's a link, my friend. Write, write, write. http://www.thewrap.com/you-finished-your-screenplay-now-what/

Bill: You are always on point. I been up since 3:45pm writing, researching, finishing a read of a screenplay for our FB screenwriters group with DAN, Mariano...Well, gotta get ready to go. Always grateful to you, my friend.

Before I go to bed I think about what I'll write in the morning. I sometimes find that gives me very lucid dreams about my story. I wake up at 5am and collect my thoughts then write for an hour/hour and a half. Get on the sites during the day. Research. Meet with a writers group once a week. Write on the weekends. I find if I skip a day and it's not earned, I feel awful. But sometimes we all deserve a break.

3.4AM is the witching hour for me. I write until about 8.45am and then its time to get on with my day.

When you get an idea record it on your phone do this every time, it doesn't matter if it makes sense just get it down, one of those ideas will be a starting point of a story and once you have a beginning and you are passionate about it, you will make time to write, passion and commitment are the keys. Good luck , now go and write a best seller.

Simple. I avoid committing to things that would conflict with my career plans, and I fulfill my filmmaking duties instead.

I work 45 hrs a week and have a freelance business. I take my laptop to work with me and write on my breaks, and I get up early on the weekends to write. Like Bill said, if you want to make it happen, you will.

I'm a night owl, so I typically work in the evening for a few hours at least. Based on your question, I also think it's worth noting that you don't have to write every day to be successful. There's more to being a writer than putting words on a page. For example, one of my "writing" goals is to watch or read one new thing (as a TV writer, it's usually an episode of a show) each day, and I count that as a sort of "writer's education", because I learn from what I'm watching or reading. Some people do write every day, and that's great. Find a system that works for you....some people (even in this thread) get up at 5AM to write - again, awesome for them, but if I did that I'd just fall back asleep and drool all over my keyboard. The real question is, are you giving it your best? And you yourself are the only person who can really answer that.

Clever Jim. I see what you did there. What a great analogy, Matt. I erased homework from my vocabulary after graduation. I'll find it though and create my own assignments. Funny thing, I use to do the brainstorm thing they teach you in English class. Jot down a bunch of crap, non stop. Found it works well. I guess when was making excuses, I couldn't consider how to get it done. And I'm a how to get it done person. Thanks for all suggestions. They shall not fall on deaf ears.

When I had my day job and often worked 48 hours a week doing manual labor, my rule was that I had to write one good page before going to work. Only one page. I carved out an hour every day for that page... and the pages added up. To 3 screenplays a year. http://sex-in-a-sub.blogspot.com/2016/01/film-courage-how-to-be-producti...

Maybe get in the habit of jotting down notes or recording messages when inspiration strikes at inopportune times. Then pull these out to ignite your imagination when you do have time to commit pen to paper.

Lol I do. I carry the pocket size composition notebooks around all the time.