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Too many ideas, can't choose one.

T

tleisher

So, for the past five years I've been learning about screenwriting and while I've written a short or two it's time for me to tackle a feature.

The problem is that I have too many good ideas that I'm paralyzed when I try to choose one, some days Ill feel good about one idea and start it but then feel better with the other and start that one instead, never getting very far.

I have about 30 right now that I think are great, and I'm sure half of those aren't as good as I think they are. But I know I have at least 10 solid ideas.

Has anyone else had this problem? How do you choose what story to tell first? None of them particularly call out to me and they are all around the same budget.

Anyone have any advice for overcoming this/choosing a first screenplay to write?
 
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Choose one and run with it. :)

Seriously, it's the only way to get it done and cross the finish line.

Focus on the one idea that speaks to you most and take it from there. Or pick the one that is most marketable. Either way, just choose one.

Ready? Set? Write!
 
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Do the broad outlines of those top ten. Then start the winnowing process from there, the criteria being smallest cast, fewest locations, etc. - in other words the least expensive film to make. That one will be the easiest to finance and get made, so that's the one to write first.
 
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If you a writing this to produce/direct yourself, think budget-wise. If you are simply working as a screenwriter, just relax and enjoy. Unless you are being paid to turn around a script (which is really nice!), often you have the leisure to work on all of them.

I believe it was Heinlein or Matheson (though probably true of many writers), who kept all his stories in typewriters. He'd go from one to the other as he got inspirations. Computers make that a lot easier. :) I have five different feature screenplays that I work on as I get ideas.

Now having said that, I also have outlined each of my screenplays, so I know where they are going to go pretty much. So I'm filling in details. If I force myself to write on just one, it is liking saying "Don't blink". My only "rule" is that I have to spend an hour each day working on at least one of the scripts (outside of my other responsibilities). I might only add a couple lines of action/dialogue. I may later read it and say, "That's garbage" and replace it. However it keeps everything moving forward. At some point you end up with a completed script. Then the work begins.

Having a script is when you start the process of refining and review. Get outside readers to check it for clarity. Trust me, finishing the script is just the first step in actually making it ready for sale.

The other brutal truth is that the movie market is constantly changing. This year its visually stunning action pics, next year romantic comedies, year after that horror/thrillers, etc. The biggest mistake is trying to write to the existing market. It's better to develop and refine your screenplays. Market your finished screenplays to the market demand. Unless you're producing your own film, it is extremely difficult to write to a demand that has already started its production schedule. This is echoed by many industry insiders.

So not to be fatalistic, you need to write for your own pleasure unless you are on assignment. Finish it, refine it, then see which one fits the market at the time. The best way to do that is just plug away on each. Over time you will gravitate towards one or the other. And just go with it. As long as you work consistently, one of them has to finish.

It's kind of like shaking a cannister of bamboo sticks to see which one falls out and tells your fortune. If you don't like the answer, you keep shaking. :) Good luck!
 
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I know exactly what you're talking about. I wouldn't say I had 30 ideas, but a much smaller number. Regardless, I couldn't decide which one to pursue fully. And Flicker is right, you really need to just focus on one, and run with it.

I don't know if this will work for you, but I got past my indecisiveness with a good-ol-fashioned deadline. For personal reasons, I decided that I NEEDED to finish my first feature by such-and-such time, and in order to finish the feature by that time, I needed to finish the screenplay by blah-blah-blah. This deadline was meaningful to me.

I set the deadline at about 5PM. By 8PM, I had my basic story set in stone. Maybe that'll work for you?
 
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In the past I've had a 3 or 4 ideas/projects on the go, and my progress was slow as molasses:lol:


I agree with the get one idea and go with it, put the others on the mental backburner with a promise to come back to them-you'll find as you focus on one with the old blinders on, the other's with fade out so you can focus more :)
 
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If they are all the same budget the I think an easy was to find one is just go through the list of ideas and write down the beginning, middle and end of the story. You'll probably only find 2-3 that have a clear mapped out story for you in your mind. The one that is easiest to visualize is usually the best story. I have found from my experiences that if it's hard to write a story, there's something missing in the concept. Hopefully that helps.
 
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I'm going to be the jerk who points out the elephant in the room.

If none of the ten solid ideas you have are calling out to you, then
you don't have a solid idea.

Five years learning about screenwriting you are paralyzed when it
comes to writing a feature. The very worse thing that can happen
is you spend 3 months writing one of you solid ideas and it turns
out the be a bad script. In that case you will be just like over one
hundred million writers who came before you. Is that what you're
worried about? That you aren't the exception to the rule?

I'm gonna say it; you're gonna hate me:

You do not have too many good ideas. Your problem is you don't
have an idea you know in your heart is THE idea.

Let the rant begin!
 
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1. What about cramming as many of them as you can into one big
script? An episode of Family Guy or the Simpsons has huge amounts
of ideas stuffed into 22 minutes.

2. Just get writing... Force yourself to sit down. The initial drafts for
Pi the Movie weren't so good, according to Darren Aronofsky; way
over the top, with alien implants and too much other weirdness. It
took DA a while to hone and pare it down. The initial drafts for Star
Wars were full of bad writing, IMO. Plough through. Writing is
rewriting.

3. Read 'Outliers' by Malcolm Gladwell if you want to know one of the
keys to success. His analysis of the Beatles' success is pretty
eye-opening.
 
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Have to agree with directorik on this one. Unless your a genius with ten amazing stories and you don't relieze how good they all are.
You could always draw names out of a hat too?

Owen
 
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tleisher said:
The problem is that I have too many good ideas that I'm paralyzed when I try to choose one,

I have about 30 right now that I think are great, and I'm sure half of those aren't as good as I think they are. But I know I have at least 10 solid ideas.
Click to expand...



I'm not quite sure what you mean by ideas..are they something like "alien comes to the world and meets a nerd guy. nerd guy becomes hero as he makes a bond with aliens to save the world" or "an important mafia gang member is escaped from the FAMILY . one assassin is hired to kill him; another one to save him"....??? If they are something like those, then there's no point being confused with millionth of these types of ideas

what I'm trying to say is, you may have plenty of ideas but none of them will work if you don't make it a good story. and then you will not get the good directors/producers if you don't make that story a good screenplay.

I agree with directoric. like some other members mentioned, outline the ideas you have. Try to write summaries of the stories. Try to combine your ideas.. well, TRY TO WRITE TEN SCREENPLAYS.. after finish writing ten scripts, you will know which one to choose :)
 
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Excellent suggestion, mahdy.

Put each idea on a piece of paper in a hat. Pick one - spend
two months writing that script. Pick another - spend two
months writing that script. In less than two years you will
have ten finished scripts, each one from a solid idea. Far less
time than the five you have spent learning about screenwriting.

By June of this year you will have four completed screenplays
and that's enough to start approaching agents. And if the sixth
or seventh one is really THE script, you will have the experience
writing several scripts so that one will be so much better. And all
in less than one year.
 
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That's a good point.

Whatever order you write these things in, the first
will be O.K., the second better, the fifth might be
awesome. It's about sharpening yr writing chops as
much as anything.

Would a songwriter sit and agonise over which song
to record? No.... you just do it, and expect you get
better on the journey. The rule is similar for scriptwriting,
it just takes longer.
 
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PositiveFuture said:
Would a songwriter sit and agonise over which song to record? No.... you just do it, and expect you get better on the journey.
Click to expand...

Hmmmmmm..... Wellllllllllllll.....

Songwriters, that's true songwriters (at least the really good ones), turn out dozens, even hundreds, of songs every year. They write every day. However, less than half are "keepers".

Folks like that used to be the mainstay of small studios like mine. In the 80's I had one client who was in two or three times a month to lay down half a dozen or more songs per session. They were only guitar and voice or piano and voice; really solid songs need no embellishment, they can stand on their own. When he heard that an artist was looking for a song he would book additional time and we would more fully produce two or three songs aimed at the style of the artist in question. A few songs were done in four or five different styles. But sometimes he and his agent/manager would really agonize over which two or three to send to an artist.

On the artists side (if they don't write for themselves) they - or their producer(s) - pore through dozens of submissions looking for just the right songs to put on an album. And they will always record more than the number of songs needed to fill out an album; that was especially true in the 70's and the 80's. Ever notice how unreleased tracks filled out "Best Of" albums?
 
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Songwriters, that's true songwriters (at least the really good ones), turn out dozens, even hundreds, of songs every year. They write every day. However, less than half are "keepers".
Click to expand...

True. You just keep ploughing away. You write hundreds of snippets + songs, record dozens, and release maybe ten. I'd say the percentage of written songs that end up 'keepers' would be way less than half for most songwriters.

really solid songs need no embellishment, they can stand on their own.
Click to expand...

Yeah. The 'does it work in a kitchen with an acoustic guitar?' test. Youtube is the filmmakers equivalent of that music industry rule of thumb.
 
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IMO you are judging your work(ideas). How can undeveloped ideas be good or bad? Writing was the most painful thing for me to do until I made it ok for me to write badly and just write.

A few months back I went to a premiere of a no-budget indie film in a theater. It had 60 cycle hum in the audio and the effects of 60 cycle in the video, rolling green bars(theater fault). It was without question the worst movie I ever watched. I laughed so hard I was sick. Two months later I'm still thinking about it, hell I'm telling you about it.

Point, don't judge your work. It could be the next cult classic.
 
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There are never too many ideas.

If this will be your first feature...pick the simplest one and write it.

See if you can execute a simple idea...hopefully it's a genre idea.

As a writer I get lots of people telling me they've got a great idea for a movie...it usually boils down to..."It's about this guy...and he...blah blah blah..." Usually it's at best one scene.

Idea isn't necessarily STORY. Pick a simple story and tell it. See how it goes.

A writer writes...that's it. If you are going to be a screenwriter...just do it.

I've written or co-written over 30 feature scripts and have exactly 5 produced films out of it. That's a tremendous track record actually...but it's still 1 of 6...so you need to get busy on No. 1.

Oh, yeah, and none have yet to be Hollywood Blockbusters :)...so in the general public's eye I'm 0 for 30 still.

But I'm gonna turn it around...I'm due...but I gotta keep writing.

So, just write.

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