I think we've all been here... And and for some of you, probably because of me ;). Endless Rewrites are the bane of the creative mind. I feel like this only comes up when we are doing something for someone else. When I'm doing my own, I generally have an idea of what I'm working towards, so it's easy-ish to achieve that goal. But what really cooks my biscuit is when the goal posts keep moving. I think this is just the reality of working in television, there never is just one layer of decision making. We can please the producers, but those producers have to please their distributor, and that distributor has to please the broadcaster. For those of us on the ground, doing the real work, it feels like we're a slave to three masters. My trouble is just keeping up my desire to want to dive back in every single time a change needs to be made. Of course, this would become one of those "that's what the money's for" things... But sometimes I just don't care about that. What are your guys' thoughts on this? Angus, I know you're embroiled in this nightmare right now with me. And Carolyn, I know you've seen the script notes from hell more than a couple of times from those American showrunners, anyone else? I'm also curious if someone who is working on a private project has felt like they were engaged in endless rewrites on their own idea? Was this from your own volition? An editor? Perhaps publisher? Let us know!

Here's the thing that's been driving me bonkers lately - be prepared to get out your tiniest violin... unless you can relate: Paid writing work is stealing creative energy. Not in some metaphorical way. Literally. You spend your best hours making someone else's words work, and by the time you sit down with your own project, there's nothing left in the tank. My Dad used to say: "Build your own dream, or just get paid to build someone else's..." Ouch. We all need money, that's for sure. But more and more I feel like by the end of the day... I'm done. This is the brain drain problem. And I think the biggest reason personal IP projects stall out. It's not that we don't care about our work. It's not laziness. Creative energy is a finite resource, and we keep spending it on other people's projects first. Then we wonder why our own stuff isn't moving. So here's what I actually want to talk about: how do we stay on track? Not the motivational poster version. We all know we "should" make time. The real question is how we do it when the paid work is eating our lunch every single day. The scheduling piece is trickier than it looks. Blocking off an hour for your personal project isn't enough, it's not just about when you write, it's about what state your brain is in when you sit down. Grinding through hours of interviews or the soul sucking accounts of true crime and then jumping straight into your feature script/novel is a great way to stare at a blank page and feel like garbage about it. I feel like I need a buffer in there... just some time to do nothing (or drive the boys to soccer, which is more likely). Some people protect their sharpest hours for personal work first thing in the morning, before the paid stuff even starts. Some do it late at night when the day's noise has finally died down. Some break their paid work into smaller chunks spread across the day instead of front-loading it all at once. None of these are magic formulas. But you need something, a system, a rhythm, whatever you want to call it, or your project just keeps sliding to tomorrow. And then tomorrow becomes next week.

Hey Hey! Wanted to say welcome to Angus Kohm, a writer from Winnipeg who works with me (and some of you) on the docu-series stuff we all know and love (sometimes)!

Anyone else drowning in worldbuilding details that are fighting for page time? I'm deep in Remnant Chronicles revisions right now, and I just spent two hours mapping out the political structure of hell... after the Fall! This will never really matter, it won't ever be on screen, nor can a 'fast paced' novel bear it. This is the trap I find myself in often, anyone else? We build these massive worlds because they feel real to us, but then we have to decide what actually serves the story vs. what's just writer indulgence. For a feature, you've got 110 pages. For a series pilot, maybe 60. For a novel, you have more room but readers still need forward momentum. I don't want to say the endeavor is a waste of time, because of course it all helps build a seamless narrative, but it still feels... like a waste, lol, because I'm never going to use it! ;) What worldbuilding details are you guys wrestling with right now?

So I hit 50,000 words on Remnant Chronicles through the NANOWRIMO - first novella done, halfway through the second. Feels good. Right now it's with an editor doing verification and clarification work, mostly around the theological/mythological stuff I'm layering in. This is my first time working with an editor on fiction (I've done tons of docuseries TV, but that's totally different), and honestly I'm still figuring out how this is supposed to work. Which got me wondering - do you guys use editors? And if so, how do you actually work with them? Like: - What does your workflow look like? Send chapters as you go or full manuscript? - How many passes do you typically do? - Do you find this part fun or is it just the necessary slog before you can publish? I'm trying to figure out if I need multiple editors for different things (structure vs line edits vs copy) or if one person handles it all. Right now mine is focused on keeping the world-building consistent and making sure my post-rapture theology actually tracks, but I suspect I'll need someone else to look at pacing. Anyway - curious how you all handle this stage. What's working for you?