Writing a screenplay can feel like wandering through a labyrinth blindfolded. But what if you had a guide—not a rulebook, but a brutally honest, no-nonsense companion to get you through that messy first draft?
I'm dropping one full chapter From Nothing To Magic from First Draft Survival Guide on my blog. No fluff, no recycled advice—just practical insights from someone who's been in the trenches. If you're serious about getting your story onto the page, you won't want to miss this.
#Screenwriting #FirstDraft #WritingTips
2. FROM NOTHING TO MAGIC
I hope the chapters from The Craft of Preparation have sparked your imagination. By now, you might have some ideas brewing in your head—blurry images, faint voices of characters, scattered words or scenes. These fragments excite you, but let’s be honest: they’re not really a story yet.
So, what should you do with all this chaos?
Write it down. Immediately.
It doesn’t matter if it’s a single word, a half-formed phrase, or the outline of a face in your mind—write it. Your phone counts as paper too. If you see it, write it. If you hear it, write it. Don’t worry about order, coherence, or meaning. These ideas are seeds, and you’re planting them on the page.
Forget about your screenwriting software for now.
I know, you’ve already created a title page that looks super professional with your name shining brightly on it. But don’t touch it yet! Starting in your software might stiffen you up. It could make you feel obligated to write in order, and you don’t have enough yet. Instead, open a simple Word or Pages document.
Write. All the words swirling in your head—put them on that page.
Believe me, when you start working the Universe will be bringing you the answers and solutions you are looking for. Just write, don’t stop yourfself! When you’re done, save this document in your Treasures folder. Give it any temporary name, something that feels right at the moment. You’ll rename it later.
Don’t waste time. Write now.
Because if you don’t, I promise you—those ideas will evaporate. They’ll vanish faster than you think, leaving you with nothing. You need to fill your vessels.
But here’s where it gets exciting:
Later, when you reopen this document, you’ll look at those scattered words and unfinished thoughts, and something will happen. You’ll start fixing them. You’ll add more words. A sentence here. A phrase there. Soon, you’ll realize that instead of four silly words and half a line, you have a paragraph.
A paragraph! That’s huge progress! Better than nothing, right?
Now don’t stop there!
Here’s where the method really kicks in:
1.Go to your Backstories folder.
Look at the moments you’ve just written about. Can you add details? Can you connect it to something from the characters’ past?
2.Open the Character Bios.
Check the bios of any characters in this moment. What can you tweak? Maybe their backstory gives you an idea for dialogue or action.
3.Find Relevant Pictures.
Open your Mood or Research folders and find an image that fits the scene. Describe it.
·Is it that New York street with a brick wall and a dumpster?
·Garbage scattered across the ground?
·Pigeons cooing?
·A shadowy figure lurking near the corner?
Write all of it down.
Don’t worry about whether it works—it’s just fuel. You can cut it later.
4. Play Your Soundtrack.
You do have a soundtrack, right? Put on a song that matches the mood of this moment. Let it guide your imagination. Write what you see.
5. Imagine Your Cast.
Picture the actors you’ve saved for your characters.
Look at their photos or screenshots. What are they wearing? How do they stand?
Imagine them walking down that street. Describe their posture.
What are they thinking?
What’s the weather like?
Let them meet someone unexpected. A cop, for instance.
“But I don’t have cops in my story!” you might cry out.
So what? Let the cop appear anyway. See how they interact. Let them talk. Let them joke. Let them argue.
“What do I do with this?”
Don’t you know? You’ll take the best lines and reactions and use them later—maybe in a different scene, maybe in a completely different way.
The point is, you’re discovering gold you didn’t even know you had.
Still don’t like the cop?
Fine. Replace him. Let your character meet a beautiful girl.
(I don’t need to tell you whose face you’ll imagine, do I?)
Let them flirt. Let them talk.
By now, you’ll probably notice something else: you’re having fun.
And look—you’ve got two pages written already!
Take a look at those pages. Are they perfect? No. Of course, not. But who cares? Later, you can tweak the details, change the setting, or polish the dialogue.
What matters is—you wrote it.
And if you’re feeling brave, open your screenwriting software and start dropping the scene in there. You’ll realize you’ve taken your first real step toward building your story.
This is how you start writing.
Isn’t it fun? Doesn’t it feel good?
Or… would you rather go back to staring at a blank screen, thinking about a logline or synopsis? Your call.
I'm dropping one full chapter From Nothing To Magic from First Draft Survival Guide on my blog. No fluff, no recycled advice—just practical insights from someone who's been in the trenches. If you're serious about getting your story onto the page, you won't want to miss this.
#Screenwriting #FirstDraft #WritingTips
2. FROM NOTHING TO MAGIC
I hope the chapters from The Craft of Preparation have sparked your imagination. By now, you might have some ideas brewing in your head—blurry images, faint voices of characters, scattered words or scenes. These fragments excite you, but let’s be honest: they’re not really a story yet.
So, what should you do with all this chaos?
Write it down. Immediately.
It doesn’t matter if it’s a single word, a half-formed phrase, or the outline of a face in your mind—write it. Your phone counts as paper too. If you see it, write it. If you hear it, write it. Don’t worry about order, coherence, or meaning. These ideas are seeds, and you’re planting them on the page.
Forget about your screenwriting software for now.
I know, you’ve already created a title page that looks super professional with your name shining brightly on it. But don’t touch it yet! Starting in your software might stiffen you up. It could make you feel obligated to write in order, and you don’t have enough yet. Instead, open a simple Word or Pages document.
Write. All the words swirling in your head—put them on that page.
Believe me, when you start working the Universe will be bringing you the answers and solutions you are looking for. Just write, don’t stop yourfself! When you’re done, save this document in your Treasures folder. Give it any temporary name, something that feels right at the moment. You’ll rename it later.
Don’t waste time. Write now.
Because if you don’t, I promise you—those ideas will evaporate. They’ll vanish faster than you think, leaving you with nothing. You need to fill your vessels.
But here’s where it gets exciting:
Later, when you reopen this document, you’ll look at those scattered words and unfinished thoughts, and something will happen. You’ll start fixing them. You’ll add more words. A sentence here. A phrase there. Soon, you’ll realize that instead of four silly words and half a line, you have a paragraph.
A paragraph! That’s huge progress! Better than nothing, right?
Now don’t stop there!
Here’s where the method really kicks in:
1.Go to your Backstories folder.
Look at the moments you’ve just written about. Can you add details? Can you connect it to something from the characters’ past?
2.Open the Character Bios.
Check the bios of any characters in this moment. What can you tweak? Maybe their backstory gives you an idea for dialogue or action.
3.Find Relevant Pictures.
Open your Mood or Research folders and find an image that fits the scene. Describe it.
·Is it that New York street with a brick wall and a dumpster?
·Garbage scattered across the ground?
·Pigeons cooing?
·A shadowy figure lurking near the corner?
Write all of it down.
Don’t worry about whether it works—it’s just fuel. You can cut it later.
4. Play Your Soundtrack.
You do have a soundtrack, right? Put on a song that matches the mood of this moment. Let it guide your imagination. Write what you see.
5. Imagine Your Cast.
Picture the actors you’ve saved for your characters.
Look at their photos or screenshots. What are they wearing? How do they stand?
Imagine them walking down that street. Describe their posture.
What are they thinking?
What’s the weather like?
Let them meet someone unexpected. A cop, for instance.
“But I don’t have cops in my story!” you might cry out.
So what? Let the cop appear anyway. See how they interact. Let them talk. Let them joke. Let them argue.
“What do I do with this?”
Don’t you know? You’ll take the best lines and reactions and use them later—maybe in a different scene, maybe in a completely different way.
The point is, you’re discovering gold you didn’t even know you had.
Still don’t like the cop?
Fine. Replace him. Let your character meet a beautiful girl.
(I don’t need to tell you whose face you’ll imagine, do I?)
Let them flirt. Let them talk.
By now, you’ll probably notice something else: you’re having fun.
And look—you’ve got two pages written already!
Take a look at those pages. Are they perfect? No. Of course, not. But who cares? Later, you can tweak the details, change the setting, or polish the dialogue.
What matters is—you wrote it.
And if you’re feeling brave, open your screenwriting software and start dropping the scene in there. You’ll realize you’ve taken your first real step toward building your story.
This is how you start writing.
Isn’t it fun? Doesn’t it feel good?
Or… would you rather go back to staring at a blank screen, thinking about a logline or synopsis? Your call.