Skip to main content

Finding Time to Write Your Screenplay


I looked at my diary. I've recently started recording my time spent doing stuff (and not doing stuff) and I've always been under the impression that my day job (as a web designer/tutor) has always been at loggerheads with my passion (filmmaking). I don't think I'm the first creative person to have anxiety over this.

However, according to time, it seemed that the opposite was the case.

Out of 5 work days last week, I spent;
  • 2.5 days working on my screenplay with Phil
  • 1 day collating the information necessary for a SPAAmart application
  • 1 full day doing websites and
  • 0.5 days tutoring (or as I like see it - sharing knowledge acquired from above)
I was an almost perfect balance.

Try doing it. Record your hours for a week (or minutes if you're a lawyer) and see what the passion Vs. day job ratio is.

Comments

Graeme Watson said…
..but my day job is my passion
11:58 pm
Anonymous said…
I don't have a passion and i think I'm about to lose my day job.
7:13 am
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Not the only white guy in Mumbai

Hi readers . . . and hi Mum! ;) I've been watching some pretty heart-wrenching documentaries here at the Mumbai Film Festival . Watching docos seems to be a fast track to learning about the world. Many documentaries have an Indian element, but a couple stood out. I tend to make friends with the people who make films I like, so I'm pleased to say that Rajdeep Randhawa is now a close and personal friend of mine. Rajdeep made a 47 minute documentary called, "Ek Tha Lal Pari." Shot mostly cinema verite, it documents the problematic relationship between a eunuch and her lover. It's an on and off relationship, but the two are still very much in love and have lived together for 20 years! In India, eunuchs live in enclaves. They are ostricised by society, but also revered and considered to have many spiritual powers. So they earn money by performing special rituals at marriages, births, deaths etc. It is a special honour to be blessed by a eunuch. To cross one would resu...
7 comments
Read more

The Three by Five Card Index System

Here's another approach to writing your screenplay. The screenwriter's friend. Introducing the infamous Three by Five Card Index System . Wow! How can I get one? In my case - I made it. What it amounts to is this: Three 90cm x 40cm sheets of chipboard hinged together so that the whole thing stands like a concertina on a table or floor. Every 5cm or so down, I have drawing-pinned small cardboard hinges (triangles if you will) made from old file dividers. These become placeholders for your cards. A couple of bunches of 3 inch by 5 inch index cards (available in packs of 100 at any newsagency) and there you have it. A sure fire way to make your screenplay bubble to the top of the pile . . . Not. But it's a tool and writers need their tools. Cool. How does it work? As you can see - each act has three mini-acts in it (fitting in with Australian script theorist Linda Heys' Second Act Story ). Or rather - going one step further and suggesting that all three acts have a begi...
1 comment
Read more

Giant CRX 1 Flat-bar Road Bike - A Metaphor

I've been working my guts out doing websites all week (day and night) and now I have to mark 50+ online student usability exercises. Ugh! I got a glimpse of my girlfriend this week. She lives really far away and - as I ride a CRX 1 Flat bar road bike - it takes me a good 2 hours to get there. Especially after riding from Como to teaching Saturday acting classes in Hammersley. I got to her place late and then had to leave at 5am to get to Freo on time - where my parents were celebrating their 4oth wedding anniversary. Hi Ma & Da. Congratulations! Now for the meat of this post. Read carefully: It's a nice ride. For every difficult hill, there's a downward slope. I top around 50kmh (peak at 60kmh) but try to cruise along at around 30kmh to conserve energy. You never know when you might need to sprint. I'm mostly on bike tracks - I don't like to ride on sand. My bike has no shocks, so my energy isn't wasted. I get to feel the ground. Whatever power I have go...
2 comments
Read more