BREAKING & ENTERING: New Year’s Resolution – The Writing Exercise Workout

A producer who’s sold to all the majors, Barri Evins created Big Ideas to give aspiring screenwriters what it takes to break into the business by sharing methods she uses with professional writers. Sign up for Barri's newsletter and follow her on Twitter @BigBigIdeas.

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At a time of year when everyone is making (and breaking) resolutions, writers should resolve to do more than the oft-repeated advice of “Write every day.” Not to dismiss that recommendation, but your goal should go beyond “applying one’s ass to the seat.” Exercise your writing skills so you bulk up the muscles you will need for a career in writing.

No matter where you are in developing your craft, there’s always room for strengthening existing muscles and building new ones. It’s the best way to boost your screenwriting strengths and shore up your areas of, shall we say, “less strengthiness.” After all, we all have areas of less strengthiness, which is why my Big Ideas Screenwriting Seminar students complete an Advance Assignment designed to help them identify both their strengths and their areas less strengthiness.They can take this into consideration when choosing what to write next by selecting genres that depend on their strengths to succeed.

As with physical exercise, with repetition, over time writing exercise will build muscle and enable you lift heavier weights with ever more ease.

When you first start working out, remember to always warm up first. Choose light weights, short sessions and easy runs, then take it up a notch as you gain strength.

Let’s apply that to writing by starting with a fundamental career tool: The Logline – that single sentence that sums up your script’s narrative and central conflict.

Crafting loglines is a specific skill, not necessarily one that goes hand-in-hand with screenwriting strengths. They are an art form unto themselves. And they will be essential in moving your career forward. I’ve written here about loglines, summoning all my best advice, but it’s practice that makes perfect.

The Warm Up

Read loglines from successful films, as well as the latest spec sales.

Check the Internet Movie Database for loglines on produced films, and note that it also includes a plot summary and a marketing tagline – a great way to learn to differentiate these tools.

Trade publications and spec sale trackers, such as the Scoggins Report, are a good source for loglines on sales, although they are generally gleaned from available information rather than crafted by a writer, and details of high-concept ideas are often kept “under wraps.” The Black List’s year-end survey of top unproduced scripts is a solid resource for professionally crafted loglines by writers whose work has earned industry attention. Keep reading about new sales and top picks regularly and you also gain a sense of what the industry is looking for.

The Logline Writing Exercise

Next Level Workout:

This writing exercise version of circuit training can be applied to many skills you want to master, including outlining, querying and pitching.

Never stop reading great scripts and then watching the films.

These days there is a ridiculously rich source of scripts to be had online. I won’t even bother to list them, just Google away. As for watching the films, streaming has made it easy to do from the comfort of your couch. Just make certain you can both read and watch your choices.

Master’s Class Exercise:

Your goal is a well-rounded education. Study not only the fundamentals of craft, but the use of language, symbolism, theme, and the distinctive styles of cinematic storytelling. The more you delve into the masters, the closer you are to developing your own unique voice.

This writing exercise is screenwriting’s Phys Ed. Don’t ditch class.

Who hasn’t had to loosen their belt a notch, or covertly undo a button at some point in the food-centric holiday season? Resolve to lose inches in your script and make your writing lean.

Slim Down Aerobics Writing Exercise:

The alarm clock rings. Bob shuts it off. He enters the bathroom and unscrews the cap on the tube of toothpaste. (Painful, real life example that went on for pages. I can’t make this stuff up.)

Never use more words than needed. But don’t use less. A true “fast read” is a “page-turner” not because of a svelte page count, but because the story is so compelling that we can’t wait to turn the page and discover what happens next.

Cardio Writing Exercise

If there’s anything that gets my heart pounding, it’s ideas for movies. My favorite subject, my obsession, the most interesting thing imaginable.

If the ABCs of salesmanship are “Always Be Closing,” for writing it’s “Always Be Creating.” And by that, I mean you should always be coming up with new ideas. Constantly thinking, “Is this an idea for a movie?” Every experience, article, dream, or overheard conversation is fodder for a possible movie idea. This may be the most significant writing exercise there is, with a potentially huge payoff for your career.

This is an idea-driven business. The choice of what to write next is the single most important decision you will ever make as a writer. You are your ideas; your ideas are a reflection of you. It is how you will be perceived in the industry.

Ideas are the single most powerful avenue for breaking into the business.

All my Big Ideas Seminar students are required to “Drop and give me ten.” Ten brand new ideas that they have never written as a screenplay.

The intensity of cardio workouts on a regular basis, at least several times a week, has health benefits and performance benefits. The idea generation writing exercise will get your heart rate up!

Pushing yourself to develop a regular cardio routine through an Idea File writing exercise may build the most essential muscle for screenwriting success. Being forced to have an idea file early in my career was one of the most impactful experiences for my growth as an executive and as a producer. Here’s how an Idea File changed my life and my career.

In the long run, hours put in yield results. Washboard abs aren’t built in a day. Setting writing goals is a valuable writing exercise to add to your routine.

For writers, this is the opposite of a fitbit – at least until they make a sport watch that measures time seated with hands on the keyboard and fingers hitting letters. (Now that's a good idea for a screenwriting tool!) Rather than aiming for 10,000 steps you’re aiming for 10,000 words or 110 pages. That means applying your ass to the chair and not stepping away from the keyboard.

As much as you have on your plate – everyone is hoisting a heavy platter these days – make a schedule, and make that schedule sacred. Routine, whether it’s time, place, duration, or output is hugely effective in exercising your writing on a regular basis.

I do best with appointment exercise. That's why I like group fitness classes. I absolutely have to stop what I'm doing, show up and workout, or get up early and drag myself to a class.

Whether your thing is boxing, spin or yoga, the trick is to find what you enjoy and stick to it. Discovering when, where, and for how long you are most creative and energetic will keep you at your most productive.

Small exercise classes are all the better because the teacher and your classmates get to know you, and your absence is all the more conspicuous. Or get a running buddy or a weight lifting partner. Make a plan and show up. Public humiliation is one of the greatest motivators.

Make yourself accountable not only to yourself but to someone else for a specific amount of pages per day, per week, or per month. If you belong to a writing group, whether in real life or online, this is a great place to make a commitment out loud. They are your writing exercise group fitness class.

A former intern of mine was recently up for his dream job at a rapidly expanding company that makes webisodes. With a huge demand for content, and looking for someone who could deliver, he blew them away with the simple truth, “No problem, I write every single day.” He can’t imagine not getting in an hour or two of writing every morning.

Don't feel like working out today?

Sometimes there’s no muse, no wind at your back, no creative juice, although you can take steps to prime to pump and get into the flow.

There are a great many benefits to a regular writing exercise workout with steady, demanding goals. You will grow stronger; your voice will be better defined; your sentences will be sculpted. Making writing exercise a part of your daily life will keep your work looking good, keep you feeling good, and help you build a long, healthy career.