Screenwriting Tip: Stacking projects

One key to the craft: Learning how to manage multiple projects at once.

Here’s something interesting to do if you subscribe to IMDbpro.com: Check out some of the top screenwriters and see what projects they have in development. Here are some writers I’ve gotten to know:

Liz Hannah (The Post, Long Shot)

Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine — Script
Under Another Name — Script
Bad Girls — Optioned / TV Series
Mercury 13 — Optioned
I Love You Now and Forever — Script
The Bird’s Game — Pitch / TV Series

Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber (500 Days of Summer, The Fault in Our Stars, The Disaster Artist)

A Chris Farley Story — Pith
Salt to the Sea — Optioned
The Beauty Inside — Pitch
Rules of Civility — Development
Nothing to See Here — Optioned
Beginner’s Greek — Development
Untitled Royal Wedding Comedy — Development

Each one has several titles in various stages of development. That’s called stacking projects and it’s requires a certain skill-set.

First, why do you want to stack projects? Simple answer: So you can know what your next gig… and your next gig… and your next gig is going to be. As a freelancer, that’s as close as you get to job security. If you can stretch your project horizon out a year or two, that’s a damn fine situation, knowing you’ll have the wherewithal to pay for little Brenna and Slater’s $50K private elementary school tuition for the foreseeable future.

But it also means you have to be able to handle several projects at once. I can’t say exactly how other writers manage stacking projects, but here’s how one way to approach it.

At any given time, you are actively working on three projects:

• The Rewrite: This is a project for which you have already written a draft and turned in, and you will edit per studio / producer notes.
• The First Draft: This is a project you are working on to get to the studio.
• Story Prep: This is your next project on which you are doing research, brainstorming, developing characters, and plotting.

In a perfect world, you get to knock out a first draft while your rewrite is under review. Story Prep is something you do along with the other writing. Sometimes you spend 1–2 days per week just doing that. Or you devote your evenings for research.

If a screenwriter wants to stack projects, they need to develop the ability to jump from one script to the next, shift creative gears from this story universe to that. If you are capable of doing this and doing it well, you have the makings of a producer which is what some writers end up adding to their resume.

Here’s the thing: You can develop this skill-set right now. Generate three quality story concepts. Crack one and write a first draft. While you’re doing that, prep another one. And while you’re doing that, start researching the third one.

When you finish Project A’s second draft [you never let anyone other than you read a first draft], send it off for people to review. During that time, knock out the first draft of Project B. And while you’re doing that, prep Project C.

Now you’re stacking projects. And as you complete the first one, you fold in yet another of your great story concepts to take its place.

Prep, writing, rewriting. Three different projects at once. This way you’ll not only be generating a lot of scripts, you’ll also be learning the art of stacking projects.

Some writers simply aren’t wired to work like this. They must focus on one project at a time. That’s okay. Understand what kind of writer you are and follow your instincts. In fact, I do not recommend stacking projects for those people who are on their first or second script. As a rule of thumb, you need to put in enough time writing to feel comfortable with the essentials of the craft before you should entertain the idea of stacking projects. It will do you no good if you write several scripts, each one of them below average because you weren’t able to give them the kind of individual attention they deserved.

On the other hand, if you’ve written four or five screenplays, you know have an established approach to story prep, draft, and rewriting, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t at least try to stack multiple projects at a time. That way, when you do get your foot in Hollywood’s door, you’ll be primed to line up multiple projects at a time, creating a foundation for a screenwriting career.

Final piece of advice. Twice in my time as a screenwriter, I worked on three projects at once. I found this to be helpful: I designated specific times of the day to work on each. Morning: Project 1. Afternoon: Project 2. Evening: Project 3. This provided a break between each writing session. But the main thing is I associated the time of day with each project. That helped me to shift mental gears from one project to the other.

Stacking projects. It can be a great way to maximize your creativity … and productivity.