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A Screenwriting Lesson You Can Learn from ‘Adaptation’

By Cameron Cubbison · May 14, 2015

There are many screenwriting lessons that can be extracted from Adaptation; one being don’t start adapting if you are a green spec writer. But the main takeaway from the above scene is to not think too much and write. It sounds cliche and basic, but how many times have you sat down with the best of intentions and produced squat? Don’t worry, we’ll wait. A LOT. Bottom line, Charlie (a great screenwriter) cannot get past his own mind at times and that is what holds him up. All of the external forces (the studio pressure, the “New York bullshit” way the novel was written, etc.) seep into his brain and clog it. Don’t let this happen. Remove them from your thought process and simply start writing.

Even if what you produce is crap in the first round, it is crap that has a start and a finish.