While it’s true that my breakout short film, Prego was not an original idea, and it’s FAR from being a great film, there are some original ideas within it. For example, I decided to present the short from the female’s point of view, something that I felt wasn’t really done before. Some of the best jokes in the film came in later drafts, and the idea of having the room go dark as we dive into her point of view also came out during a final rewrite of the script. I can say with complete confidence that the best “ideas” came to me while I was rewriting my script (meaning while I was working/hustling/getting stuff done), not before I got started. Some people decide not to start writing until the great idea comes as a flash of inspiration, believing that they need to have the idea first before they ever put pen to paper. This is the biggest contributor to “writer’s block,” in my opinion, and I found that hustle tends to be the only cure.
The more I write, the more ideas I get, and the better my ability to distill the great ideas from the ones that don’t really serve the story. And when you are immersed in the world you have created, ideas that pertain to the structure, characters, and visuals of the film would come popping into your mind throughout the day. Especially when you’re not anywhere near a keyboard or a pen. This used to happen to me a lot while I was writing my first feature film, Pickings. I’d jot ideas down during the day and try to add them to my script during writing sessions.