Vomit Draft
Unable to make a single bit of progress, my goto strategy is similar to what writers call a vomit draft. #
Each day, it went the same: sit down, try to write about the work, find some meta problem to occupy myself (like "is this the correct order of topics that I'm planning to write in my outline" or "under which topic does this idea belong") before actually writing about the thing itself, cue an unproductive spiral of research into these distractions. After a couple of hours of not actually doing any progress, drift off into the internet "as a break", and only come back to the thesis for 20-30 minute intervals that are exactly as useless as they sound. Become more and more frustrated, but no more productive, as time goes on.
Vomit drafting suddenly gave me a productive focus. Suddenly it was clear that yes, where I want to put this topic is good enough, or there is this one other place where it makes a lot more sense. No more long internal debates over meta-questions. And I realized that yes, I do have a wide range of knowledge about my specialty, something I'm convinced I was subconsciously blocking on before ("what do I do if I try to write about this topic but realize I'm just too stupid to get it, and was just bluffing all the time?"). #
This is legendary Simpsons writer John Swartzwelder's technique, too:
Since writing is very hard and rewriting is comparatively easy and rather fun, I always write my scripts all the way through as fast as I can, the first day, if possible, putting in crap jokes and pattern dialogue—“Homer, I don’t want you to do that.” “Then I won’t do it.” Then the next day, when I get up, the script’s been written. It’s lousy, but it’s a script. The hard part is done. It’s like a crappy little elf has snuck into my office and badly done all my work for me, and then left with a tip of his crappy hat. All I have to do from that point on is fix it. So I’ve taken a very hard job, writing, and turned it into an easy one, rewriting, overnight. I advise all writers to do their scripts and other writing this way. And be sure to send me a small royalty every time you do it. #
I think this a role tools like ChatGPT will fill: spit out a crappy version of something that humans can edit later. It gets you over the hump of looking at a blank page, but isn't itself a deliverable. #
John Steinbeck says:
“Forget your generalized audience. In the first place, the nameless, faceless audience will scare you to death and in the second place, unlike the theater, it doesn’t exist. In writing, your audience is one single reader. I have found that sometimes it helps to pick out one person — a real person you know, or an imagined person and write to that one.”
How to Write a Vomit Draft (And Why It’s So Important)
For me – and I think for many writers – the most intimidating part of the writing process is typing the first words of the first draft of a new film or TV script. It’s terrifying. I will procrastinate at that point of the writing process longer and with more steadfast dedication than at any other point.
Why? Because as soon as you start writing the screenplay, you start to fail. It’s inevitable. The words that you write on the page never live up to the dreams of greatness that you had in your head. As long as the idea is contained inside your brain, it’s perfect. It’s Oscar-winning. It’s the script that was destined to give you your big break. But as soon as you start to actually write…
This is all very glum, I realize, but fortunately, there is a solution: embracing the bad.
My writing process is most successful when I accept that the first draft of my script will not be the final draft of my script and I allow myself to write a vomit drift, also known as a sh*tty first draft. By accepting that the first draft of the movie script is bound to have problems and won’t win any Oscars, I take the pressure off myself, making it easier to just start writing.
...
- If you get to a beat that you’re not ready to write or that’s intimidating for some reason, skip it. Write the next beat, and come back to that scene when you’re ready.
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