I’ve written a lot about screenwriting since The Athletic Nerd’s launch.  This post happens to be my 100th entry in the category.

I even found time to write screenplays too!

Two years ago, while I was working on Playing Through, I lost touch with my number one passion in life.  I was so busy with that short film that nearly a year went by without a single completed script. (Shorts included)

It was depressing and I vowed never to let it happen again.

My priority over the last year was to return to screenwriting and evolve my skills.  I made it my mission to not only write but write better.

As time went on, I found new ways to write and new sources of inspiration.  This is a collection posts that chronicles an incredibly fun year in the life of an aspiring screenwriter.

Part I: Screenplay Inspiration

100 + Awesome Screenwriting Websites

56 Things I Love About Screenwriting

10 Screenwriting Books That Inspired Me

10 Flicks: Movies That Make Me Feel Like Writing

Re-Reading Your Old Screenwriting Books

The First Screenplay I Ever Wrote

Screenwriting: The Back Story (Mine)

Era 7: A Screenwriter Evolves

I Want To Be A Screenwriter

A Screenwriter’s New Years

17 West Short Film Story Meeting

FEATURED: The Screenwriting Spark

The Creative Ignition: Basketball

The Creative Ignition 2: The Ceiling

The Creative Ignition 3: Road Trips

The Creative Ignition 4: Libraries

Part II: Writing Screenplays

Screenwriters: Do You Have An Agent Yet?

The Screenplay Is Done! Time To Move On…

Screenwriting: Writing Great Action Scenes

Rushing To Finish Your Screenplay

Screenwriting: Make Actors Fight To Play Your Characters

A Perfect Place To Write Screenplays

Crosstown: Writing A Short Screenplay

Does Putting Your Screenplay On Hold Make You Sad?

Bus. Subway. Cab. Boat. Plane. Screenplay

Shut Up, Sit Down And Write Screenplays!

Writing A Screenplay: What Happens Next?

Screenplay Titles: Before Or After You Write?

Screenwriting, eBooks, Final Cut, Photoshop & Super Mario Galaxy 2

What To Do If Your Screenplay Isn’t Working

How To Write A Screenplay When The Weather’s Nice

Screenwriting: The Importance Of White Space

Making A Screenwriting Schedule

The Importance Of The Screenwriter’s Notebook

Productive Days

Finding Time To Write

Screenwriting: Dealing With Time Constraints

Screenwriting: Rewriting The Climb

The Climb: Improving The Screenplay

Tweaking Your Screenplay: Subtle Rewrites

Part III: The World Of Screenwriting

Creating Concept Art For Your Screenplay

Screenwriting Book Review: How NOT To Write A Screenplay

Cab Drivers, Inspiration & The Sound Of Music

Scriptchat: A Screenwriting Community

What ‘The Matrix’ Screenplay Taught Me

There’s Something Cool About A 3 Page Screenplay

Photoshop: A Cure For Writer’s Block?

Dexter & Screenwriting

Becoming A Screenwriter For Hire

Is My Screenplay Ready For Competitions?

A Screenwriter’s Holiday Isn’t Really A Holiday At All Is It?

Screenwriting: The Return Of An Old Idea

Writing About Screenwriting… Instead Of Screenwriting

New Ideas vs Finishing Your Screenplay

Tilt Interview Part 2: The Screenplay

Screenwriting: Finishing A Feature Screenplay

Screenwriting: Afraid To Show People Your Work?

The Screenwriting Balance

The Plate: Filmmakers With Jobs

Screenwriting: New Surroundings

Screenwriting: The Print Out

Feeling Guilty About Not Working

The Return To Screenwriting

I Like Working

I Like Working: The Follow Up

Part IV: Mobile Screenwriting

Review: Celtx For iPhone And iPad

Review: SCRIPTS PRO For iPhone

Screenplay Development… On A Greyhound Bus

Mobile Screenwriting Round Up

Final Draft is coming to the iPad!

Spotlight: ScriptWrite vs Screenplay

Riding and Writing: iPhone At Work

Spotlight: Screenplay Black Mana

Screenwriting: Portable Writing

A Look Ahead

I’ve learned a lot about myself since I started this blog. Writing about screenwriting has helped me realize how much I love to write movies.  In the past year, I’ve written a bunch of shorts and finished a feature script that I’ve put off for years.  Not to mention contributing to this blog, directing The Climb, building 3 websites from scratch and writing an eBook. (eBook details coming soon…)

This year is all about superheroes and action scenes.  I’m taking a break from the drama to do something a little different and I’m beyond excited about it.

I had a great time looking back at all these old posts.  While I’ve definitely evolved as a blogger, it’s easy to see I’ve evolved as a screenwriter as well.

I’m looking forward to taking the next step.

You never know when you’ll feel inspired to write.

That’s why I’m always seeking out new ways to kick start my creativity.

I’ve been developing a short screenplay that deals with fishing in a secluded pond deep in a forest.

I’m loving the work I’ve done so far and the direction the story is heading but I was lacking that spark.  Some unknown factor that would vault the script out of development and into Final Draft.

So I figured, why not go to a similar location?

I used my dog as an excuse and went beyond the baseball diamond and football fields we normally visit every morning.

On this day, we traveled into a park and soon found ourselves far from the cement paths and groomed playgrounds.

My mind started working. While we walked I worked out the tone of the screenplay and how I wanted to spread out the important story points.

Suddenly, I fell into a trance and the next hour was a blur.

Before I knew it, I had a scene list in my mind and everything was ready to go except a few small details.

What started as a search for that elusive spark turned into an inspiring and productive walk in the woods with my dog.

Feeling stuck on a new story?

You never know when inspiration will strike.  I say, instead of waiting for it, head out into the world and make it happen yourself.

I feel like watching a movie writing.

Any other screenwriters out there have a list like this?

Now, a list of your 10 favorite movies would fit as well but I’m talking about specific movies that light the creative fire inside.

The list I came up with may seem random at first but each an every one of them share two things in common.  The first is the effect they have on my creative ignition and the second is how they all involve creativity in some way. I will now elaborate.

Antitrust

Computer programming

When I was in university, I accidently got myself into a core Java introductory course and ended up loving it.  I wound up staying for the entire year and learned a ton about object oriented programming and the Java language.  It’s really nerdy but interesting stuff.

The idea of structuring a program reminds me a lot of the screenplay format.  Writing a script is one thing but learning when to separate paragraphs and strategic use of white space are invaluable tools to master.

So when I watch Milo (Ryan Phillipe) talking about bottlenecks, start-ups and adaptors, I want to load up Final Draft and work on slugs, transitions and plot twists.

PS: This is a pretty awful trailer.

Sideways

Novels

Paul Giamatti is a struggling novelist who is in a rut and wants nothing more than to be a published author among other romantic and wine related desires.  It’s the scenes that involve his writing that interests me the most.

I’ve never really wanted to tackle a novel but I’m passionate about screenwriting and so I can relate. Sideaways is a fantastic movie with an equally impressive screenplay.

As Good As It Gets

Novels

Awesome movie.  I love original dramas like this.  It’s such an interesting story and Jack Nicholson’s Melvin is a phenominal character.  I’m a huge fan of his workspace and how he basically narrates what he is writing as he writes it. I’m an even bigger fan of his discipline, churning out the novels and making it look easy.

Dangerous Minds

Poetry

The school fight in this movie is among my all time favorites.  It’s such a scary thought to know you have to fight.  Thankfully I’ve never had to face that situation.  There’s something about the classroom scenes that inspires me to hit the keyboard. I can’t really explain it but I’m happy it has that effect on me.

8 Mile

Rap/Writing

Rap may seem slightly off topic but it’s the passion to succeed that inspires me.  B-Rabbit is willing to do whatever it takes to achieve his dream.  Who doesn’t find themes like that inspiring?

Good Will Hunting

Mathematics

The amount of research that must have gone into this screenplay is amazing.  I don’t understand half of the math good’ ol Will is talking about and quite frankly I don’t want to.  There are so many conversations that I love about working hard to solve problems. It is easy to translate that into solving story problems within a script I’m working on.

I don’t know math but I’m willing to work on a description or a line of dialogue until it’s perfect.

The Prestige

Magic

Two competing magicians constantly trying to gain an edge and become the better performer.

Christopher Nolan can do no wrong as far as I’m concerned.  The Prestige is an amazing film.  There’s just something about people who are passionate about their crafts that inspires me.

PS: This is an awesome trailer.  Take that Antitrust!

Adaptation

Screenwriting

It’s a movie about screenwriting!  It’s such a weird story but I love the originality of it.  I like to think that many people saw this movie on my list instantly understood why it’s here. So much talk about story and structure.  I love it!

Proof

Mathematics

Again the theme of problem solving serves as my inspiration to be creative.  Proof is a movie that very little people I’ve talked to have seen.  I just decided that my new goal for this post is to directly cause someone to watch this movie. (Or at the very least consider it.  Feel free to comment if I succeeded.  Don’t leave me hanging.)

A Beautiful Mind

Mathematics

“Find a truly original idea.”

There’s a lot of math films on this list.  This movie is just as inspiring to me.

The characters care so deeply about their field that it’s hard stop that dedication from infecting my brain with creativity.  I think out of all the films on this list, A Beautiful Mind is the only one batting 1.000 for getting me in the mood to write.  The others come close but this flick his the perfect notes on every single viewing.

Along with the other films on this list, it is one of my go-to cures for writer’s block.

Screenwriting is my passion. I love writing and I love movies.  It’s an addiction.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve searched for ways to express myself creatively.  Screenwriting just fit so easily.  I’ve been obsessed ever since.

Over the last few weeks, I’ve been thinking more and more about my overall body of work and decided it was time to expand.  So I’ve set some pretty ambitious goals over the course of the next year.  Basically, I’ve challenged myself to be better.  To learn more.  To write more.

This thought process inspired me to sit down and really think about why I love to write screenplays.

It isn’t a complete list by any means but it does represent an important idea.

Screenwriting means something different for anyone who has ever loved movies enough to give it a shot.

Here’s a small look at some simple things that remind me why I love screenwriting so much:

1. The first time I saw the screenplay format and decided to try it.
2. Watching movies that make me feel like writing.
3. Feeling inspired.
4. Being excited about a new story.
5. The freedom to come up with new ideas.
6. Launching Final Draft.
7. Typing FADE IN:
8. Writing just because I can.
9. Finding that one thing that ties the entire story together.
10. Designing a title page.
11. Writing ‘trailers’ before I start a screenplay.
12. ‘Photoshopping’ posters for new stories.
13. Sitting somewhere quiet with a blank notebook and my imagination.
14. Perfecting the opening scene.
15. Keeping stories secret until they are finished.
16. Finishing an outline and gearing up to start writing.
17. Changing my furniture around whenever I start a new script.
18. Finishing a first draft and then spending countless hours perfecting it.
19. The rewriting process.
20. Thinking about the little details.
21. Writing good conversations.
22. Losing track of time while I write.
23. Writing about screenwriting.
24. Making play lists of songs that remind me of the story I’m working on.
25. Getting up early to write.
26. Staying up late to write.
27. Pulling all nighters.
28. Creating cool villains.
29. Creating cool heroes.
30. Creating interesting supporting characters.
31. Building inside jokes into scripts.
32. Introducing new characters.
33. Describing locations that no one has ever seen.
34. Incorporating obscure references.
35. Making up words and terms.
36. Using white space to my advantage.
37. Creative transitions between scenes.
38. Bringing old characters into new stories.
39. Writing confrontations and arguments.
40. Powering through writer’s block.
41. Revisiting old ideas.
42. Making a change that makes the story better.
43. Reading screenwriting books.
44. Losing sleep because I have to write something down.
45. Reading my old scripts.
46. Reading screenwriting blogs.
47. Reading produced hollywood screenplays.
48. Knowing a characters decisions instinctively because you just know.
49. Thinking of titles that have more than one meaning.
50. Catching a mistake the spell checker missed.
51. Writing on my iPhone.
52. Printing out a finished script.
53. Being terrified to show people my work and getting over it.
54. Surprising myself.
55. Typing THE END.
56. Finishing a script and immediately starting work on a new one!

There’s literally thousands of little moments you experience when you are writing. It’s impossible to collect them all in one place.  These are just a few of the reasons why I’ll never stop writing movies.  It’s too much fun.