1 - Write Everyday
2 - Have a Routine
3 - Read Obsessively
4 - Have a Notepad Handy 24/7
5 - Avoid Common Cliches
6 - Finish What You Start
7 - Get Feedback
8 - Keep an "Idea Box"
9 - There, Their & They're
10 - Poetry Doesn't Have to Rhyme
11 - Expect Rejections
12 - Always Back Up Your Work
13 - Break the Rules
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Great list!
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Great advice! Thanks for sharing.
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This is a great list. Funny thing is that I'm too OCD to not finish what I start. My biggest problem is getting obsessive about finishing and forgetting that sandwich.
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100% agree with number 11. Everything else is subjective and works 100% for the people it works for.
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Nice, Tammy Hunt! 2 - Have a Routine (can include chocolate consumption)
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Thank you for sharing, great info!
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Fantastic Tammy! Great list
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Nice but I dunno about write everyday. Writing is a passion and forcing yourself to do it to check it off just isn’t me. But almost everything else sounds legit!
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Writing everyday doesn’t mean writing everyday it could just taking notes or writing down ideas that’s writing everyday
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LOVE YOUR LIST! Thanks for posting.
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Okay that makes much more sense John Mai
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I also count submitting scripts to contests, checking out or pitching on Stage32 as writing… ;-)
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Thank you Tammy.
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Number six is the tough one. I get ideas constantly and start the screenplay, then leave it because I'm just not feeling it right then. I like to get into character when writing.
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I do that too, Gen Vardo. Get into character when writing. I act out scenes too.
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BRAVO! Fantastic list. Will implement all directives immediately after lunch. : )
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Thanks for the reminders. We get so caught up in the story and our characters, we forget the tips on the routine as a screenwriter. The only thing that I would add to your lists is get it ready for Hollywood/publisher/agent/the Readers
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Thanks for posting that list, Tammy!
I'm so glad you put in rules 1, 3, 5, 9, and 12. I try my best to write every single day (it's gotten easier since I retired from my factory job on 10-5-2022)...and try my best to read other people's scripts on a day-to-day basis. And the way I see it, mixing up "its" and "it's" is just as bad as mixing up "there," "their," and "they're."
Now...to make an "idea box" an actual, touchable object instead of something I keep inside my noggin...
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Where are income rules?
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Jim Boston Congratulations on your retirement Jim! As an aside, my idea box is a file folder on my desktop or an email to myself that I keep in my draft folder when I"m away from my laptop.
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Better specify what rules they should break (No. 13), because otherwise you're telling writers not to have a routine, not to finish what they start, not to read and write everyday....etc. Is that what you mean? How about this for a rule: Re-read what you write to make sure you're saying what you mean to say. Specificity is crucial.
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Yes Jenean I understand your concern about “Break the Rules” as a part of the list. My meaning is to not focus so much on formulaic concepts and to not be afraid to blend genres and explore unique ways of telling a story.
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ABP - always be paid...maybe number 235, dunno, guess not that important...
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Thanks, Leonardo! (And if I can't find a metal box or plastic one or wooden one to use for ideas, I'll put a file folder on my desktop and that'll be my idea box.)
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5,6,11&12 are the only rules I use.