Not Writer's Block

It's Not Writer's Block.

I'm not stymied. I'm not facing a wall. I know exactly where my script is going. I know all three of its parts and have already written the first. I'm about to start the second but first I must wait.

Not Writer's Block is what I call the calm before the writing storm. I see the story laid out in front of me, but I cannot progress until I find the perfect combination of words. I need the first sentence. I've written the first visual, but now I need the second. I need the thing that is going to launch the second act -- I believe the thing that will launch the story is a sentence. A phrase. A thing that a previously unseen character will say. He will set the tone for the rest of the episode and I need it to be perfect.

That's where I am. The start of act 2 of episode 5 of The Ruffians. I'm playing the scene out in my head and examining it from different angles. I just need to find the right approach. I need to find the thing. I need to crack the code.

It's Not Writer's Block. It's not frustrating. It's thrilling. It's the writing process. I'd say "it's why I do this," but I do this because I have to. I can't do anything else. I wouldn't know how. Yet, this is the part I love the most. The sometimes slow, often methodical, exploration of character and story.

And it must be done before I can continue. So on the surface, it resembles writer's block. But it's not. It's Not Writer's Block.