Finding the momentum to finish an outline?

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  • Finding the momentum to finish an outline?

    Hey guys. I haven't been on this forum in quite a while, but I have a quick question about something that's been hindering me lately.

    I find that the hardest part of the writing process for me has been finishing an outline. Finishing a detailed, scene by scene outline takes the longest amount of time and the most energy, but once I'm finished, I'm all set. However, most of the time I find that I have the tendency to lose momentum close to the end, or sometimes near the very beginning. What usually happens is I write 1/2 - 3/4 of the outline and just stop, having ran out of ideas or energy. Or, I have a solid beginning, ending, and lots of little scenes in the middle, but stringing them together is very difficult.

    How do you overcome this challenge? I've been having the worst writers block of my life for many months now. I'm ashamed to say it's been over six months since I've written anything meaningful. I've had maybe a dozen productive days since then. Most of it is because I've been dealing with a lot of personal issues - too many and too personal to get into. I feel a huge amount of stress now that I have to prepare for college, which to be honest, is something I feel obligated to do instead of excited for. All of these things piling up in my life have just stifled my creativity, and I need to get it back. Writing is one of the only things in my life that feels truly meaningful to me.

    Any suggestions?

  • #2
    Re: Finding the momentum to finish an outline?

    Sure. Put the outline aside and write several scenes. Start from the beginning or write those you're most excited about. The juice you get from transferring your consciousness into another world will feed you. Walking the road shows you where to go.

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    • #3
      Re: Finding the momentum to finish an outline?

      I think this is where sequencing comes in really handy.

      The idea of writing 40 (or so) scenes to get you through the movie is hard. Coming up with 8 sequences is a lot easier.

      I don't outline sequentially. I think of it like zooming in on a google maps image. A log line is a country-level view. You zoom in a little, and you can see some cities, major highways, that's when you've got your act breaks, your midpoint. Zoom in a little more, you start to see your sequences.

      I try to think of getting through the second act in four or so 10-15 minute length steps. Only once I know what those are, do I break them down into smaller steps.

      In practice, things are a little messier than this, in that I'll have scene ideas that I just drop in there, and I shuffle stuff around, and so on. But I'm always driving towards those four (or so) steps. And once I've got them, then I zoom in a little closer and find it's pretty easy to fill out those sequence with scenes.

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      • #4
        Re: Finding the momentum to finish an outline?

        Every day over my deadline for completing my outline I take my garden shears and cut off a finger. Heck, after 8 days I can't type so none of it matters.

        Bill
        Free Script Tips:
        http://www.scriptsecrets.net

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Finding the momentum to finish an outline?

          Originally posted by Ronaldinho View Post
          I think this is where sequencing comes in really handy.

          The idea of writing 40 (or so) scenes to get you through the movie is hard. Coming up with 8 sequences is a lot easier.

          I don't outline sequentially. I think of it like zooming in on a google maps image. A log line is a country-level view. You zoom in a little, and you can see some cities, major highways, that's when you've got your act breaks, your midpoint. Zoom in a little more, you start to see your sequences.

          I try to think of getting through the second act in four or so 10-15 minute length steps. Only once I know what those are, do I break them down into smaller steps.

          In practice, things are a little messier than this, in that I'll have scene ideas that I just drop in there, and I shuffle stuff around, and so on. But I'm always driving towards those four (or so) steps. And once I've got them, then I zoom in a little closer and find it's pretty easy to fill out those sequence with scenes.
          Co-sign.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Finding the momentum to finish an outline?

            Originally posted by Ronaldinho View Post
            I think this is where sequencing comes in really handy.

            The idea of writing 40 (or so) scenes to get you through the movie is hard. Coming up with 8 sequences is a lot easier.

            I don't outline sequentially. I think of it like zooming in on a google maps image. A log line is a country-level view. You zoom in a little, and you can see some cities, major highways, that's when you've got your act breaks, your midpoint. Zoom in a little more, you start to see your sequences.

            I try to think of getting through the second act in four or so 10-15 minute length steps. Only once I know what those are, do I break them down into smaller steps.

            In practice, things are a little messier than this, in that I'll have scene ideas that I just drop in there, and I shuffle stuff around, and so on. But I'm always driving towards those four (or so) steps. And once I've got them, then I zoom in a little closer and find it's pretty easy to fill out those sequence with scenes.
            If I come to some point in a treatment where I really don't know exactly what happens -- in the sense that I haven't quite solved it on a scene-by-scene basis -- but I know what's going to happen on a larger scale, I'll just write that in and move in.

            If it's just for myself, I figure that by the time I get to that point in the screenplay, having worked things out in detail up to that point, something will probably occur to me. And if not, I'll just -- I don't know -- I'll just make something up.

            So I know that at the end of one scene my hero is trapped in a pit and they're pouring concrete down on top of him. And at some point later on he's got to be in Bombay having gotten out and somehow gotten the secret and rescued the little kid that the Bad Guy is holding captive in the Gold Temple of the Sun, I'll just write:

            Somehow the hero manages to get out of the pit with the concrete and he makes his way to the Golden Temple of the Sun where he manages to rescue the kid from the Bad Guy. Now they're escaping down a narrow mountain path being pursued by an army of sentient Orangutans...


            Really, basically, you can always just insert the above whenever you run out of ideas. It's pretty much a universal problem solver.

            NMS

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            • #7
              Re: Finding the momentum to finish an outline?

              Thanks for all the suggestions you guys

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Finding the momentum to finish an outline?

                Do you know your ending before you start?

                I always know my opening scene and my last, and I just have to figure out how I get there.

                Also if you're running out of steam, ask yourself what your script is about? What's the theme that drives it and pushes it forward? Plot is tough to pull out of thin air sometimes if you are unsure what you're trying to accomplish or where you are going.
                Quack.

                Writer on a cable drama.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Finding the momentum to finish an outline?

                  Originally posted by ducky1288 View Post
                  What's the theme that drives it and pushes it forward?
                  This is critical to me. Biggest problem with rewrites on script I just sold is that they want to remove the very reason why I wrote it, the theme that holds it all together and connects all of the pieces. It's like the most important card at the bottom of the house of cards. In the meeting I had on Wednesday, one of the producers made a comment off the top of their heads that just opened the door to the rewrite and got me interested in making their changes. A new theme that I could relate to, that could be the new thing connecting the pieces of the story and making it "fun" to write. Without that I would have been stumbling around not knowing what the hell I was doing other than executing plot notes.

                  So, if you know what *drives* you to write this story that helps a lot.

                  Bill
                  Free Script Tips:
                  http://www.scriptsecrets.net

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Finding the momentum to finish an outline?

                    I use 8 sequences with a approximately four points per sequence then revise for theme. Far less daunting that way.

                    If I'm really stuck, I write the scene that made me want to spend the next 8 months writing the damn thing.

                    so basically, a combination of the above.
                    "Take the thing you love, and make it your life"--Californication. [email protected]

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                    • #11
                      Re: Finding the momentum to finish an outline?

                      Not to cause consternation, praise or turmoil, but for those who are remotely interested in how I write my detailed outlines I've updated my on-line screensnap. It's the one I've posted here before, and now includes some callouts that point out and describe the different parts of the doc:

                      Mr. Buttle's Great Odyssey (2016)

                      Incidentally, this very script, as it turns out, is my Nicholl contribution this year. (Going by my database counter, I find out in about 66 days if it's in the Quarters)

                      Anyway, the callouts on the screensnap describe some of the headings of the simple WinWord doc that I use to put together my stories. I've used this layout since my first script, in 2010, but it had only 6 headings to fill in. I added more and more, as I saw how useful they were, and I probably haven't changed the outline layout at all since 2012 or 2013.

                      Works great for me!

                      No doubt, the dedicated screenplay-writing programs each have something like this, but my implementation in WinWord using its Document Map feature (making use of Heading Styles #1-3) works fine for me. And it was already installed on my computer (ie. free) when I started to write in the first place.

                      Whatever gets it on for ya'.

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                      • #12
                        Re: Finding the momentum to finish an outline?

                        Here's an article on the InkTip FB site:

                        HOW TO WRITE A SCRIPT OUTLINE THAT WILL SAVE YOU MONTHS OF REWRITES

                        They have some step-by-steps on how to write one. My own method includes another step between their Step 1 and 2: I do an outline of an outline.

                        That is, I write a single line descriptions of the top-level major events of Act 1-3. It's not even one sentence, but one line separated by a blank to make it virtually point-form They're almost "loglines" for each major event. And I write these very fast, without a break (of course, I go back and edit it later, as required), so that I don't have time to get distracted by cool ideas of dialogue, characters or anything else.

                        Here's the "quick outline" for my script, "It's Great to have a Pet":

                        ACT 1: The Lady and Her Cats
                        Introduction: Main characters, their world
                        The cats discuss Penny, as they wait for her to wake
                        Montage of cat activities while home alone; mostly Julius watches from his perch
                        They discuss cat breeds and color-points
                        Establish sick cat and Rainbow Bridge concept
                        Introduce Caesar’s song
                        Auxiliary characters outside the glass veranda door/windows
                        More on Rainbow Bridge concept, before they curl up to sleep
                        ACT 2: Adventures and Dreams
                        Montage of cat activities
                        They discuss Caesar getting locked in the closet
                        Sick cat taken to vet (we don’t follow; he returns okay); major set piece of cats being suspicious before, during and after visit
                        They discuss their ages
                        Scary vet dream
                        Having hard time waking Julius up; he’s dopey and now isn’t eating even as Caesar comes out of it
                        More on visiting animals outside
                        Another vet visit in the cat carrier for Caesar: What if Caesar doesn’t come home?
                        Penny returns with Caesar; big reunion
                        Penny seems distracted though: A potential boyfriend visits
                        Montage of cat activities
                        Julius throws up, even as Caesar stops, and begins to eat
                        More of Caesar’s song
                        Vet visits house; Julius passes; Penny is inconsolable; Gus and Caesar walk past “shell” of Julius, not recognizing him
                        ACT 3: Where’s Julius?
                        The cats search for Julius; visiting animals sympathize
                        Sad montage of cat activities; Gus asks Caesar to sing song
                        Gus and Caesar finish the song that leads to...
                        Ghost of Caesar returns healthy/happy to play with his pals!
                        Final scene of pets of past and present w/Julius, w/Owner
                        Which I then used as a foundation, but not a literal step-by-step because it's pretty bad as written, for the full 34-page prose outline.

                        Which then became a compact little 83-page script.

                        It's all about getting the story onto the page by working from the briefest form to the mostest form: Logline/concept, quick outline, detailed outline, and lastly the script.

                        At least, this is how I do it, and I'm not going to argue with my speed or output.

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