Write, write, write

Whether you've been at it for a few years or a few decades - you've had tons of ideas already. Big ones, little ones - never toss anything.

Your ideas, your treasure.

Seems obvious, right? But you'd be surprised how many writers are an unstructured bunch who leave WAY too much to chance. That final sale or commission won't ever be 100% assured - all the more you need to keep track and control the things we can. One such thing we can control is the stuff our brain spews on a daily basis. Keeping notebooks? I'd hope so! But whether it's your standard Moleskine or just scraps of paper here and there - you should type them out, store them digitally and put them where you can find them when you need them.

We all have drawers filled with ideas. Sometimes those ideas are pure gold, sometimes there closer to tin. Still, whether those ideas stand the test of time or feel dated at some point - never toss anything (did I mention to never toss anything?). The greatest idea you've ever had may end up being a little character quirk in for an entirely different story. And the weakest idea just may fuse with something else and turn into that perfect pitch. I'm writing about this because I see it working again and again. Right now I'm working on a pitch for a TV thriller. I've revisited my treasure chest, rummaged and found. An idea led to another and now I'm well on my way to a very cool piece of work.

We are our worst enemies. The little man/woman inside our head nagging: "That ain't good enough, that ain't original enough, that ain't special enough." Screw that voice. Never hit delete - just put it somewhere, forget about it, move on. I guarantee you, one find day that crappy idea will be exactly what you need to deliver the goods.

Never - toss - anything. 

The questions regarding the various stepping stones on the way to a finished script keep coming up - and understandably so because there's really no single correct answer - but that, in fact, is a positive in the collaboration game.

Deliver exactly what they want.

I've been at this for twenty years and have dealt with both US and European markets. Over time, I've come to realize that you should never simply go with what you've done the previous time. Always ask the network, the producer, whomever, what exactly it is that they expect. I've had times when they asked for a treatment when in fact they wanted an expose - then of course there are different types of treatments, too!

The way I've handled it these past years is this > logline > synopsis > exposé > treatment > script.

• A logline is a single sentence that describes your story. More about this here > 25 words to change your life
• A synopsis, in my experience, has always been a one-pager that gives the whole story.
• An exposé is the entire story in short - in my book that means anywhere between 3 and 10 pages
• A treatment can be anywhere from 10 to 40 pages. More about this here > The treatment and why you need it
• A script, especially from an unknown writer, should be somewhere between 100 and 110 pages long. Anything longer will diminish your chances of your script even getting read. More about this here > Your script's perfect length

All of the above are essentially supposed to shine because of the story to tell. So, ideally, don't try and hype anything - just tell the story, highlight the characters, their wants and needs, punch up the great twists and turns. The shorter forms, logline, synopsis and exposé are promises. Your promise to the reader that they'll get to read a very cool script.

In the end, remember that it's always a collaboration, and always a business. You want to avoid a) unnecessary work for yourself and b) an annoyed producer. So when they ask for something, confirm back to ensure you'll be sending them exactly what they expect. That way, assuming your story rocks, everybody's happy.