Screenwriting : Stuck Between Ideas and Motivation by Bartosz Koliński

Hi, Bartosz Koliński. I push through it and outline the script, take a break so I can have energy to outline the script, or find motivation by thinking about the script idea over and over, doing a writing exercise, watching movies, talking with other creatives, and so on.

It really depends on your purpose, if it is crystal clear and urgent, it will drive you. If it is just a speculative idea, it could be built on sand, so let it go. do something you enjoy kike hiking, cooking, travelling, listening to music, to open your senses to more creative inspiration. The ideas will glow if you keep yourself open and discerning of people, opportunities, and experiences. Hope this helps.

When I'm in a rut like this, I usually like to spend some time doing activities to clear my head whether that's working out, going for a walk, spending time with friends/family, or anything that requires very little thought, which helps refresh my mind for when I get back to it

I had that problem a few years ago. Script almost finished. But I was unable to continue writing. My solution was to take one small item in my pencil notes. Do that change and then hit save. Next day I did another small change from my pencil notes, and then hit save. Day after day, it became easier for me to resume writing. So after a few weeks, my writing was again normal. This also demonstrates that it is a good idea to take paper printouts and make pencil notes.

The greatest advice I’ve ever gotten was from an animator friend: “Creating art or writing stuff is like pooping. You can’t force it out, and you can’t keep it in if you really love it, so it’ll come when you’re ready.”

Haha Callie Currence. Your friend's right.

This happens when your motivation is tied up in the results rather than the process.

It's a bit like enjoying losing weight, but hating being hungry. You have to make the feeling of starvation and process of calorie management something that feels rewarding in the moment.

A lot of writers talk about what they are supposed to love as a chore, and those writers have sadly chosen to walk down a self-destructive path based in punishment rather than indulgence.

A process that feels almost like cheating and taking the easy route is, oddly enough, the one to lean into. Art isn't the same as school or work, as it's not something that directly rewards hardship. Making that mind switch is hard, especially later in life.

Give yourself permission to play around and make a mess. Go write the bits you're most exited about. Make your goal what you enjoy creating today rather than some validation you might get in ten years time. Ironically, your writing will be better for it.

Hi, Bartosz. I run into this all the time. I just finished a script where I hit the climax and then stalled out. I knew exactly what needed to happen next, but I couldn’t get myself to push through. That nearly‑finished draft sat on the backburner until I finally said, “Enough is enough; I’m getting this done.”

A couple things have helped me in moments like that. The first is a piece of advice I’ve heard many times and always come back to: you can edit a bad page, but you can’t edit a blank one.

The second is a habit of mine: I often write scenes out of order. If I’m frozen on one moment but I have a clear picture of what happens two scenes later, I’ll jump ahead and write that instead. I’ve even reached the end of a script with several gaps still in place, but by then I know exactly what I’m building toward. When I do this, I’ll mark the empty sections with something like “GAP #1” followed by a dozen lines of equal signs so I don’t forget about them when scrolling through the draft. Knocking out those gaps one by one gives a surprising morale boost.

And as others in this thread have said, sometimes the best thing you can do is step away for a bit. Clear your head. Focus on something else.

You might even try tinkering with another project; nothing heavy, just enough to keep the creative gears turning without forcing yourself into a corner.

Similar to Jason's experience - I was once flying through a script that is still one of my favorites, and I just hit a wall on the ending. I actually got the emotional climax nearly perfect, but I needed a closure moment that showed the forward momentum of the characters afterward.

After a days of agonizing over it, I finally made myself put it aside and just focused on tooling with a few other projects. A few weeks later I had this great idea for a random scene that I hoped I'd be able to build out into a whole story. But as I was finishing it, I realized it was my missing ending. And not only did it pull off everything I was trying to accomplish with the ending of the script, it highlighted some cracks in my lead characters that I hadn't spotted before, and I ended up doing a rewrite of the original script that made it significantly better.

So, it's worth considering whether what you really need is a little break, even if you need to set yourself a firm timeline to avoid procrastination. Fresh eyes might make it easier to move forward.

Also, self-care!! The world's in a tale spin right now, Burn out isn't just possible, it's nearly inevitable,unless you find time to take care of yourself - and if you're like me, unless you also make time to focus on narrative advocacy, volunteering, or something else to try and put out the dumpster fires.