Look, as No Film School's resident screenwriter, I have written thousands of articles on writing advice. But this is the most important one. I've worked in Hollywood for 13 years and talked with a lot of writers and directors who are much more successful and better at the job than I am. And every time I ask them for a piece of advice or what they tell young writers or even writers of every age, they say the exact same thing to me..."The only piece of writing advice that matters is just to finish."Let's dive in. A Bad First Draft > No Draft At AllI'm going to start with the only thing you really need to take away from this column: Give yourself permission to write a bad first draft.Because no matter what, the most valuable tools a writer has are finished works.That means that the most important piece of advice is just to finish what you start. That’s it. That is the only piece of writing advice that truly matters, because without it, nothing else can happen.Why This Is the Foundation for EverythingEvery other famous piece of writing advice—"show, don't tell," "kill your darlings," "find your voice," "write what you know"—is all about actually rewriting a finished draft. And you cannot revise a blank page.The single greatest obstacle for any writer, from a novice to a Nobel laureate, is not a lack of good ideas; it's the paralyzing fear that the words won't be perfect.That fear holds you back...
Published By: NoFilmSchool - 4 days ago