“One [blank] at a time”

Goals are only helpful if you can keep them. Hence: “One [blank] at a time.”

I am a fan of writing mantras. Simple aphorisms or even smaller bits of wisdom. Sometimes we need a straightforward, uncomplicated statement to guide us through a complex miasma of words which just aren’t coming out right in our heads… or on the page.

Here is a mantra I came up with which can be helpful:

“One [blank] at a time.”

When you write a script, you will have ups and downs, good days and bad. While it’s great to set writing goals [when I write a first draft, it’s 5 pages per day], sometimes that just ain’t gonna happen.

When your single task with a first draft is to “get the damn thing done,” if you are wallowing in a triple biorhythm low and every cell in your body is resisting the call to deposit your derriere onto chair to write, your personal goals [daily, weekly, monthly] can feel like this strapped to your back:

Goals are only helpful if you can keep them. Hence: “One [blank] at a time.”

The [blank] can be any of the following:

• One scene at a time: Use this when you are feeling a general sense of funk.
• One page at a time: Use this when your funk has become malaise.
• One sentence at a time: Use this when your malaise has become despair.
• One word at a time: And this one? Use only in the most extreme and dire circumstances. When it seems as if the entire universe has conspired against you, your creativity feels like a shriveled anchovy, and the very act of even thinking about your story reduces you to a quivering heap of epiglottal spasms.

The point of writing a first draft is to make progress. Some progress. Any progress. One scene, one page, one sentence, yes, even one word puts you closer to FADE OUT.

Eventually, you will cycle out of your blue period, the bright light of creativity will shine on you again, and pages will flow from your fingertips with the succulence of a robust zinfandel.

But if you find yourself in a writer’s tomb, you know what to do:

“One [blank] at a time.”

For more Writing Mantras, go here.