Living your life is one of the best ways to find inspiration, and writing doesn't always mean sitting at your desk to get it done.
Yes, routine is a wonderful thing that can strengthen your writing muscles, and for you that may mean tethering yourself to your writing desk for a certain amount of time at a certain time of day. However, changing up where you write can also have beneficial results.
When you do something new, your brain is actually building new neural pathways, which can help you focus and maintain neuroplasticity longer in life. And what's that good for other than the obvious health benefits? Doing the writing work.
With that in mind, let's look at five different places you can write your screenplay that will get those neural pathways firing.
1. The office can signal to your brain that it's time to work
The office can mean a couple of different places depending on your set-up and full-time career: if it's not yet screenwriting, both your non-writing-related "real job" office and the home office you've set up to support your writing goals.
Turn your Workplace Office into an inspiring setting rather than an obstacle in your path. Use your breaks wisely by using them to engage in writing sprints. With no time beyond actually getting the words on the page, give your brain the permission to "write badly" with the idea that later at home is the place to revise and perfect.
Your Home Office is where the majority of the screenwriting will still get done, and with good reason. There's something to be said for the routine of sitting down at the same desk and opening your app of choice to do the work. It signals to your brain: I've arrived and have a job to do as you strengthen those writing muscles through regular practice. This is most likely the best time and place to revise drafts, because if you're lucky enough to have a desktop set-up, you can have multiple drafts open at once to ease the process. It's also the place where you can shut the door to the outside world and fully immerse yourself in the one you're creating.
2. The bedroom can act as the perfect writing retreat
Did you know that Descartes, Capote, Proust and Sitwell all wrote from bed? We usually think of the bedroom as a place to go and relax, unwind, and of course, to sleep. But let's for a moment take into account the 'relax and unwind' message your body gets when it enters the bedroom. That feeling is an excellent point for your nervous system to begin when sitting down to write your screenplay, too.
One could also look at it from the angle: Are you a morning person, or a night owl? Regardless of whether it's the wee hours or the later ones, keeping your laptop or tablet handy at your bedside to open as soon as you crack your eyelids or to record inspiration as it hits late at night is simply practical. You don't even have to get up to get into it.
Whether it brings back those college dorm day memories of getting schoolwork done on the bed, or if there's space enough for a writing desk or big comfy chair, investing in a lap desk is one way to counteract the need for a desk at all. As with the office idea, you can shut the door to the rest of the world and your to-do list, enter your private oasis, and immerse yourself.
3. Executing the writer cliché one café at a time
Peace and quiet have their place for concentrated writing time, just as indulging in your favorite overpriced beverage while you lounge at the corner table does. Being surrounded by people is one of the best places to soak up reality while trying to translate those emotions to the page.
Plus, total quiet isn't for everyone. Sometimes, the white noise of a bustling café does something to help the brain focus and go deeper into the work. There's no need to strain one's hearing listening for the FOMO-adjacent what-ifs beyond the shut door. It's all there, right in front of us, to engage with just beyond our laptop screens, and we can make the active choice to focus on our characters on the page.
There's also the accountability factor. If you're writing at home, whether in a home office or the bedroom, there's the pull to do housework, propensity to drift off and scroll on the phone, or even take a nap. But in a public café? There's the chance that someone might see (or worse, care) if you're slacking off while you're writing. Sure, 99% of the time no one actually cares what you're doing on your laptop, but we are social creatures and judgment often matters to us. You paid good money for use of that table, so you may as well get some words on the page.
4. The great outdoors
Similar to cafés, taking your screenwriting outside can have a beneficial effect. There's the accountability aspect—if you're sitting on your laptop at the park, you better be doing something useful on it! Plus, the ambient noise can help some people focus better.
Where being outside differs from the corner table at your local café, is the benefits of nature and fresh air. Natural settings are naturally less stressful, free of man-made constructs that can be inherently anxiety-inducing. Being outside lowers stress as we ground into nature. We are, after all, natural beings. It follows that 'getting back to nature' can have a stabilizing effect that boosts our creative spirits.
5. Anywhere creativity strikes you!
If you're one of the lucky ones, you might have the opportunity to travel or gain access to a place that inspires a setting in your script, or have access to one you've already written about but now want a first-hand account of. If you can at least partially write the script there? Bonus points. Think: a cabin on the lake can be a grand setting to write either a romantic drama or a contained horror, depending on your vibes. Immersing yourself in the right kind of setting can put your physical body right in the thick of it emotionally, and thus put your mind in the right headspace to create the tone you want to achieve in your script. Ambiance and tone are tricky to nail, so giving yourself this opportunity to feel it firsthand is huge when it comes to honing your skills at crafting it.
Since inspiration can strike any place, any time, while you're writing on the go, it's also key to be prepared and arm yourself with the necessary tools to answer the muse when she bestows you with her presence.
Tools to keep handy:
- A subscription to Final Draft Cloud, the online screenwriting platform that means you never have to be tied to a single machine. Final Draft's web-based app means you can still write when you're away from your desktop, and is available at a low monthly subscription rate (you also get Final Draft 13 for desktop included in your subscription!).
- And of course, the invaluable Final Draft Go app. If you're on the move between the office and home, off on vacation, or simply choosing to write elsewhere, this iPhone and iPhone-friendly app will seamlessly sync your script between multiple platforms. That way, you can pick up right where you left off to write, edit, and read no matter where you are.
Still creatively stuck? Where's the place you feel most comfortable, most yourself? That's likely a great place to hunker down and write your script. When you're not in fight-or-flight mode, your creativity can flourish, and you'll be amazed at how much you can accomplish.
Just write. Try different places and see which work best, and rotate through the ones that result in the most and your best output.