Screenwriting : I'm in a weird funk by Travis Sharp

I call it Self Douchebag Phobia. Am I alone with this?

It is a kind of writer's block. The 'I'll never write anything good every again'. Think of it this way. You have 30% great work in you. The other 70% ranges from absolute crap to not bad. What you may be feeling is a run of absolute crap in the conveyor belt of inspiration. But rest assured you are just getting the Crap out of the way so the good stuff and appear. To make the belt move you have to write. Write something you don't care about. Or offer to help someone with a draft. Just write, this will pass. This is why I have a few stories going at the same time. I use one as a dumping ground. Eventually some stuff in there jells and it becomes my next project.

Don't know your methods....but I'd make sure I knew exactly the purpose of each scene and each beat...."beat" in this case meaning "every single action" before I started writing a single word.....had a great outline.....had great rising action....had my characters really well-defined and knew the arcs....had some crafty inner and outer conflicts....had the A-story and B-story (and maybe C-story) exactly how I wanted them...and realized that the first cut is the first cut.....

......and would perform that to the best of my abilities and as self-confidently as I could in creating an entertaining and marketable story with memorable characters.

That would help defeat the Self Douchebag Phobia...no doubt about it. Self-confidence instead of self-doubt with self-loathing in the forecase is a better frame of mind for writing....or for anything, right?

Well, let's say that happens. Let's say you write it don't like it and get mad at yourself. So what? It won't kill you. Rewrite it or tear it up or burn it and then write something else. Don't let irrational fear stop you. In fact, if it scares you, you should do it.

I think the original term is Tortured Artist. Be comforted Travis!

That's why there are rewrites. You can hate what you write... and fix it later.

Thanks all. I shall try red wine too.

The thing about red wine is that in addition to making me feel so fine, it also keeps me rocking all of the time.

Travis the wine thing helps me! ;-)

Travis, one of the greatest assets writers have is our creative mind. One of our greatest weaknesses is our creative mind. It's easy for us to make up negative stuff and make it so visual that we believe it's real. Practice some mental self-discipline. Firmly tell yourself to save the futuristic stories for your work, and then go WRITE. And since first drafts usually suck in some way, just shrug that off and rewrite. Keep going until you've turned the story into what you want it to be, not what you fear it will be. Your own critical thoughts about an improbable future are stopping you.

Can you tell I'm a psychotherapist as well as a successful author? :)

Happy writing!

write 3 pages longhand each day in the morning.

Huh, huh, you said "longhand each day in the morning"

(Sorry, I have the maturity level of a 12 year old)

Just throw the clay on the wheel and massage it later. Or change up the routine for a few days- breathe some real air, get the heart rate up, and try some new scenery. Reload and come back.

Travis Sharp Julia Cameron who wrote "The Artist's Way" calls them "morning pages" they help you to not judge your writing

12 is OLD, man!

I think it means you need to take a break for a bit and use some other part of your mind or creativity that is unrelated to screenwriting then come back in a week or two and try writing again.

You probably won't, at least at times. Write anyway and tell yourself that first drafts always suck and later you'll make it better.