I noticed my screenwriting drastically improved when these things became part of my process:

1. Push the actual writing of the script to as late in the process as possible.

2. Focus on the mood and emotional tone of the ending while outlining, without ever deciding how to end.

I'm an outliner. I outline extensively and I research extensively.

This period of purely soaking in and organizing information lets me live and breathe a story, such that the finer details of its world become second nature. It's training to think like the story I want to write.

I have no concern whatsoever for what will eventually become script pages during this phase, but I'm writing down EVERY thought I have and never deleting anything.

Even ideas that I rule out, I'll strike-through text rather than delete. (I like to reference the thought process.)

If I'm writing a spec, this phase could take months, or years, depending on how much research is needed.

If it's an OWA and I have to turn in a draft in three months, I'll spend two months in this stage.

In either case, I might have a 20-30 pg doc of just "thoughts" after this.

This is also when I work on my mood references. "What do I want the film to feel like?"

A lot of movie watching and music listening happens here. I build huge playlists of "soundtrack" music, watch dozens of movies, and build a folder system full of reference images and artwork.

All this is so that I can let emotional tone lead the decision-making that informs a narrative.

If I don't know how to write what a scene should "feel" like, I'll look at a reference painting and describe it. Or listen to the right music and describe it. And THAT'S the feeling.

Once I feel like I've "lived" in my story world for long enough, know what story I want to tell, how I want to tell it, and who my characters are, I'll breakdown story beats to make sure it all tracks.

This might end up as a 5 or 6 page beat sheet of loose scene descriptions.

I don't give any real attention to structure or the mechanical elements of writing during this. That stuff becomes muscle memory after a while, and I think an over-reliance on the analytical/logistical side of structure can be a distraction.

Story IS structure. It'll be there.

But that's the beauty of the beat sheet when you're done with all that world-building stuff. You can double check that your structure is there BEFORE moving on.

Because after months (or however long I'll need) of all this, I outline.

What I call my outline others might call a treatment/scriptment or whatever.

It's a word doc, organized by scene headings, where I write (almost) the entire script, scene for scene, in prose. Dialogue included, though typically not polished.

Basically, this is my first draft.

I do this because the screenplay format is inherently a restrictive format. I'd rather tell my story as clearly and cleanly as I need to, with as many words as I need to, and then later "edit" it into a script format.

So my first actual script draft is really my first rewrite.

THAT'S why I save the script itself for as late into the process as possible. I'd rather edit/rewrite a story that I already know how to tell into a script, instead of trying to invent a story as a script.

Why?

MEASURABLE PROGRESS.

I do not under any circumstances start writing a script before I know I can finish the script. There are no half-written drafts on my hard drive.

When I'm ready to write, I'm REALLY ready, and I will write no less than 5 pages a day. Though by now it's usually easier to do more.

This means that no matter what, in roughly 3 weeks, I will be done with that draft. I tend to land around 13-20 days to finish a script.

5 pages minimum per day, but if I write 20 in one day, I STILL have to write at least 5 the next. Might take an hour, might take 8 hours.

One thing that helps you keep up a daily page minimum no matter what is if on the previous day, you stop at the point where you know EXACTLY what happens next, and EXACTLY how you're going to write it.

We could be talking stopping mid scene here. Mid sentence. Mid word.

Why?

Never underestimate the value of momentum.

If you write until you reach a "natural stopping place," are you going to have a "natural starting place" the next morning?

Or might you be completely at a loss for how to begin the next scene?

Instead of risking that, try to use the momentum gained from being able to jump in and finish a scene you already knew how to.

Let the energy gained from getting back into your rhythm carry you into the next scene.

So no matter what, you have progress you can measure, and a daily minimum to hold yourself accountable to.

There is no longer any question of whether or not I'm going to finish a script, because by time I get HERE, I've technically already written it.

Except for the ending...

When I'm doing my master outline / prose draft, I like to stop at the end of the second act. This is my safety net against writing "means" just to justify "ends"

I know what I want my ending to feel like, and what I want an audience to feel after reading/watching it. That's all.

So then the question becomes, "Can I write the script that will get us there?"

Because if I can, "how" to end will become obvious. It'll be inevitable. It'll be the only possible way the story could've ended, and everything I've written prior will have organically led us there.

If you've done your homework, and put the bulk of time into the DEVELOPMENT of the idea, then by now your characters are real, and the story you're telling is a culmination of the choices THEY'RE making.

Your characters, and the story they've told, will tell you how to end it.

Seriously. If you don't know, ask them.

You've given them a personality. Wants, needs, fears, goals, loves, hates.

They have an answer for you.

And that's how I write scripts.

I save it for the end because by time I'm there, there's no way I won't finish it in less than three weeks.

I don't predetermine my endings because if I've properly prepared, the ending will be a natural culmination of my characters' choices.

I hope this helps someone.

For those keeping track, it’s a 1,133-word tweet.

Thanks for reading, happy writing!