As we all know, writing a screenplay is…
Hard.
Tedious.
Debilitating.
[Insert your descriptor here].

One of the most frustrating experiences is when you get lost.
You’re stuck in the second act and can’t see a way out…
You’re in the middle of a rewrite and nothing is making sense…
You’re writing a big scene and you can’t remember why it’s so big.

What to do?

You can take drugs, but that could lead to an expensive and deleterious habit.
You could sacrifice a virtual lamb, but that could get you in trouble with the virtual PETA outfit.
You could simply chuck the script, but honestly isn’t our planet’s landfill problem big enough already?

How about this?
Go back…
To the beginning.
Go back…
To your first instincts.
Ask yourself, What drew me to this story in the first place?

Go back in time.
Not actually…
But in your memories…
And with your feelings…
Try to put yourself where you were those first several days you played around with the initial story concept.

What’s the point?
You’re trying to reconnect with your story.
To feel and think what it is that first wowed you about the concept.

One of the reasons writers get lost is because they often lost touch with their first instincts.
And with all the brainstorming, character development, plotting, outlining, writing and rewriting, it’s really easy to fall out of touch with that initial resonance we felt to the story.

Think of it like this.
Writing a screenplay is like the Old Testament accounts about how the Jews, after they escaped Egypt, wandered in the wilderness for 40 years.
Time and time again, they were tempted to lose faith in Yahweh.
Time and time again, their leaders reminded the Jews…
When we were being chased by the Egyptians, didn’t Yahweh save us at the Red Sea?
When we were starving in the desert, didn’t Yahweh provide for us manna from heaven?
When we were parched with thirst, didn’t Yahweh cause water to flow from the rocks?

Much of the Exodus accounts are reminders of the Jews initial connection with their God.

So if you’re lost in the ‘wilderness’…
That vast daunting wilderness of Act II…
Or the rewrite…
Go back to the beginning.

Remind yourself of the joy and excitement you felt when you first began to see a story unfolding in front of your eyes.

Remind yourself of the key aspects of primary characters that leaped to mind when you were first struck by their emergence into being.

Remind yourself of the thematic elements that bubbled up into your consciousness when you scratched the surface of your story concept.

Some times when you’re lost…
It helps to go back to the beginning.
And remember your first instincts.