It may have happened to you – or not. Either way, whenever you prepare your pitch, you better prepare for this question. Or are you perhaps the kind that will work on the same project until it is perfect? If necessary… for years? Hmmm…

I’m afraid that’s not going to work.

Some decent brainstorming may save your ass.

Be A Pro Screenwriter

Professional writers, write. That’s what they do – all the time. So if you want to be perceived as a pro, you will need to (give the impression that you) have more than one project. To get hired, or even to sell a screenplay, better build a diverse portfolio of work, rather than tinker on that one life project.

So you need to start looking for new projects, and one way to do this is by frequent brainstorming.

better build a diverse portfolio of work,
rather than tinker on that one life project.

One of the rules of brainstorming is ‘Quantity over Quality’. This sounds counter-intuitive, but let’s look at all the benefits of this approach.

Are you still only working on one project?

Get brainstorming. Now.

More means more options to win

I often tell my screenwriting students how at the height of my previous career – as a radio producer – I worked with all the idols from my teenage years. I was the kid in the candystore. Then lightning struck. The management of the network decided to sweep the broadcast schedules clean, and everyone had to pitch for their jobs again. Some celebrities had been hosting the same show for 20 years, and now they ran the risk of losing everything.

People started brainstorming like crazy, developing brand new radio show concepts. So did I.

Then lightning struck.

I came up with something I really liked. In essence it was a talk radio show, using the (then) emerging technology of speech recognition and tele-voting. The concept shaped up and I was pretty happy with it.

Then, fear kicked in. “What if they don’t like it?”

So I started putting together a backup plan, a show with a very different angle, something more like the programs I had been running successfully up to that point.

Again, doubt crept in. “What if they don’t like this either…”

Fear Is Your Friend

I started work on a third, fourth idea… until I realised there would be value in having a whole portfolio to choose from. So I decided I wanted to present not one but TEN shows.

Given the tight deadline, this was not entirely realistic, yet within the few weeks we had available, I managed to develop seven new radio concepts.

Most other producers had only one. Others two, three at the max.

there would be value in having
a whole portfolio to choose from.

All staff were assembled in a gigantic meeting room, and rather than telling who could stay and who was fired, the new programming schedule was projected on a massive screen. My eyes flitted across the time table, and right on the first day of the week – Monday 8am – there was my #1 concept. I had made the schedule, better even: I was going in prime time!(*) The relief was so great, it took me a while to realise that this was not all. A colleague prodded me: “You’re gonna be busy. You scored THREE shows!” My excessive brainstorming had paid off.

While some true radio dinosaurs saw their careers come to an end because their new idea was not picked, mine was just about to take off. I was not only the youngest producer for national radio, I had just become one of the busiest.

Brainstorming Like A Pro. Go Deep.

Getting more ideas is one reason why you should brainstorm often.

Getting better ideas is another.

Perhaps you have found that the same bunch of ideas keeps springing to mind. It either means you haven’t gone deep enough, or – if they are truly original – perhaps there is something in there that you should develop. Unfortunately, those top-of-mind ideas are not always the gems that will sell.

Beginning storytellers often rehash stories they have heard elsewhere, or emulate styles they like. They simply express the ideas that live in their conscious mind, or just under the surface. Your brainstorming needs to go deeper.

Those top-of-mind ideas are
not always the gems that will sell.

Only once you have figured out a way to access the deep irrational pools of your unconscious, this really interesting, darkly original CharlieKauffman-type-of-material will emerge.  If you have ever kept a dream diary, you know what I mean.

This Is Not Writing. Don’t Try To Be Logical

On this level, you don’t try to be logical, or plausible, or sensible. What you do need, is emotion. The emotions can be anything: fear, pain, torture or fun. In the early stages, it may seem as if you are not making sense. And for the outsider, you may not. Fortunately, you’re alone here in your creative cocoon.

To get to this level, you may have to be brainstorming for a long time, or frequently, and give yourself the opportunity to figure out your own process. Do it daily. Find your way of slowing down your mind, and getting access to great ideas.

You may have to brainstorm
for a long time, or frequently.

In times when I meditate frequently (not often enough), it is quite extraordinary what happens to my imagination and creativity. Where I otherwise struggle to come up with metaphors, they will hit me hard and fast.

Figure out your way. You’ll see, the ideas that hit you first may be completely unusable, without structure or shape. But after a while, you will find relevance on a deep level, and during development you may discover what your unconscious mind is trying to tell you. Some brainstorming methods can also be used when you are confronting writer’s block...

Nurture That Portfolio Of Ideas

Soon you will have a list of projects you are dying to develop, and before you know you will be adding further notes to those.

And guess what, you don’t need to have written the full screenplay before you can start pitching a project. If you have a rough structure, and the confidence that one day this will be a story, you are ready to answer that question above with a resounding ‘Yes!’ Of course you’ve got other projects!

Because you’re a pro, remember.

So how do you create that zone where great ideas come to you?

– Karel Segers

(*): This show would run for no less than 17 years, and outlast my own radio career.

Karel FG Segers

Karel Segers wrote his first produced screenplay at age 17. Today he is a story analyst with experience in acquisition, development and production. He has trained students worldwide, and worked with half a dozen Academy Award nominees. Karel speaks more European languages than he has fingers on his left hand, which he is still trying to find a use for in his hometown of Sydney, Australia. The languages, not the fingers.

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“If I’m ever completely uninspired, I make a note of what goes there, highlight it in yellow, and skip to the next scene. And if I’m still stumped, I write whatever crap I can come up with until I ease into something less crappy.”

Too bad Emily wasn’t around to give this advice to Coleridge, Ellison, Mitchell and F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Writers have been blocked throughout the history of the written word. Some have been unable to work for years, leading them to abandon their careers.  Enough reason to look into some techniques to fight it.

First of all we need to establish whether you’re suffering from short term or long term block. Today, let’s be optimistic and assume it’s only short term.

SHORT TERM WRITER’S BLOCK

1. Is it block or is it a distraction? Remove the distraction or remove yourself from the distraction.
2. Find outside triggers. Pick words from song lyrics, a magazine, the news, look for inspiration in the voice message(s) on your phone.
3. Write what springs to mind. If your inner voice says “This is stupid”, write down: “This is stupid”. Continue for as long as it takes.
4. Try asemic writing. My 4-yr old ‘writes’ these doodles, then I ‘read’ them aloud for him. Makes him proud and sharpens my story skills.
5. Call a friend, tell your story and ask: “So, what happens next?” You may be surprised at the outcome.
6. Change your circumstances: Leave the keyboard, start using pen and paper, change your writing room or write in a cafe.
7. Change Point of View. Re-write a scene from a different Point of View. Continue this past the point where you got blocked.
8. Change your habit or method. Write in the morning instead of at night (& v.v.), go for a walk before your writing session.
9. Try a different medium: record your story to your phone or mp3 player/recorder, draw it as a comic book, etc.
10. Decide not to write for a set period of time: 5 mins or 5 hours. Don’t even try. Good chance inspiration will start flowing.

If you’re still blocked tomorrow, consider the following:

LONG TERM WRITER’S BLOCK

1. Do you have a structure? Where is your story going in the first place? Work this out before anything else.
2. Create a habit. Write every day, at the same time, for the same duration. It reduces the chances of block.
3. Call your story consultant for advise. Perhaps it only takes a minor change in the story to unblock you.
4. Look for a co-writer. This may improve the speed and the quality of your writing. Or join a writers group.
5. Go back to your research notes or do more research. Become an expert in the world of your hero.
6. Re-write everything. Try a different POV for the whole story. Continue past the point where you got blocked.
7. Go back to square one. Perhaps your story sucks and you need to abandon it? Or start it completely from scratch.
8. Take a holiday. Resist the urge to write; take notes only. Next, you’ll be so keen you can’t stop the creative juices.
9. Start a new story. Brainstorm new ideas and alternate 2 (or more) stories. Have stories cross-pollinate each other.
10. Look after yourself. Is another problem keeping you from writing? Sort this out first, or learn to live with it.

Still stuck?

You may have stopped being a writer.  Or you’re just procrastinating.

In the latter case, let’s dig a little deeper into the causes of and solutions to writer’s block. It helps to understand how the mind works and how creativity happens (or doesn’t happen).

Here are three wonderful resources:

• Elizabeth Gilbert on ‘nurturing creativity’ (TED talk).
• David Levy on ‘ratio vs. intellectus’ (Google Tech talk).
• Joan Acocella on history and origins of Writer’s Block (in The New Yorker).

You’ll find that in almost all cases, there are far more fundamental causes at the root of our inability to continue writing here & now.

Which brings us to the conclusion that Emily may be right.

Writer’s block is a lie.

Please share your experience with writer’s block in the comments. Thank you!

Karel FG Segers

Karel Segers wrote his first produced screenplay at age 17. Today he is a story analyst with experience in acquisition, development and production. He has trained students worldwide, and worked with half a dozen Academy Award nominees. Karel speaks more European languages than he has fingers on his left hand, which he is still trying to find a use for in his hometown of Sydney, Australia. The languages, not the fingers.

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