Don’t get me wrong, this stage is a beautiful thing. You’re focused solely on your ideas without any impediments to your own personal creative process. When you think about it, everybody has to start here, no matter how long they stay in this phase, and you’ll have to make return trips frequently. But it is possible to get caught in a kind of screenwriting purgatory. I know, I’ve been there. In fact, I hold dual citizenship as a working creative and in screenwriting purgatory.
 

This is where you’re in your own creative bubble. You’re writing away. You complete works that you find satisfying and fulfilling, you get your stories out of your head and onto paper, and you’ve re-drafted sufficiently. Maybe you’re even juggling projects. Life is a dream where your writing is concerned. (Or a nightmare when you start to chop a script up and ruin it by changing too much, the dreaded over-drafting.)
 

You find yourself talking to friends and loved ones, dropping writing jargon left, right, and sideways. Saying things like, “I can’t get out of the bottom of the second act.” Or, “I’m going to have to cut a character.” There’s something addicting about that place. Because those who aren’t familiar with screenwriting can be impressed, and those who do know about screenwriting likely don’t even know you’re alive.
 

So what can you do to start pushing your ideas into the light of day? What can you do to leave your pipe and smoking jacket phase behind? Here are some practicals to help you out of your creative cocoon.
 

1.) Register your work. Register with The WGA (Writers Guild of America) or ProtectRite. ProtectRite was actually the first to offer an online-registration service back in 1994. Prices are available on both sites. Do investigate both though, because many people don't realize that there is another option outside of the WGA.

 

Either way, you can’t afford not to do it.  You can register with the Library of Congress if you really want to, I’m paranoid so I usually do, but nobody ever really asks about that for the most part. Not in the networking stage of a project anyway. Registering your work is the best and only way to really protect yourself and your ideas.
 

It also comes in handy when you want to prove to someone that you really did think a movie about (insert hot topic/relevant character here) had potential and you try to say that at a cocktail party and nobody believes you. Just give them your script's registration number.
 

Also, having registered work can lead to, drumroll please….more work. It’s standard practice for writers to have three registered scripts to show an agent in order to gain representation. Also, if someone is looking for a writer, rare as that may be, an example of a script in their genre of interest could get your foot in the door. You can always hope that your script will be produced, but if it can’t be or doesn’t seem like it will be, that doesn’t mean its useless.
 

2.) Enter contests. There are a plethora, (yes, enough to necessitate the word, “plethora”.) of screenwriting contests out there. Why not enter at least one? It gives you something to hope for, something to remind you that scripts are for producing and not just for pouring yourself into and discussing.
 

If you’re lucky, you can sometimes get feedback from these contests even if you don’t win. (As a sidenote, many times your script is required to be registered, so that’s just another good reason to register.)  
 

Try your hand at all levels of competition. Two of the most rewarding are the Nichols and the Disney Writing Fellowship. Enter every year and it’s sort of like putting your name in the hat for an instant career, plus it gives you annual milestones to encourage your writing. It feels good to know that you’ve put yourself out there, and it can be a real boost to your self-esteem getting past certain rounds of competition. A little something for a rainy day when you’re feeling particularly insane for aspiring to be a screenwriter, perfect for curing your obnoxious ennui.
 

3.) Don’t sit on an idea. Okay kids, altogether now, what happens when we sit on an idea? “Somebody else will do it.” That’s right, very good! This leaves you feeling frustrated and puts you in danger of abandoning your craft…not good at all. So go ahead and let it out. Outline it, brainstorm it, start a draft, spend time collecting inspiration and researching, do whatever it takes. But be purposeful when inspiration strikes.
 

Take extra good care of an idea when it simply won’t leave you alone, that is how you can spot a keeper and something that you truly care about. If it tortures you when you’re trying to sleep, if you wake up thinking of it, or if you pine for it the way Ross did for Rachel…stop being miserable and get to typing. You heard me, mush you huskies!