A house divided against itself... is hard to visualize.

My previous post berated the idea that it's beneficial to silence your inner critic and allow yourself to write crap. I've seen too many people try this method only to come to the erroneous conclusion that they could ONLY write crap.

But what's the solution?

Let's step into "Analogy Land" for a moment. Think of writing a screenplay like building a house. Any house needs a proper foundation. From a sturdy cement bed, you can build any number of stable, sexy, fun houses. But, if you decide to build your house on a pile of shit, well... nothing else is going to hold up.

That's why Act I is so damn important. That's why you need to go to the brink of perfectionist insanity in order to assure that the first pages of your screenplay are terrific. It's your foundation. It sets the tone for everything that comes after. If your protagonist is an "arch typical, apathetic, avatar" in Act I, he/ she's not going to be Captain Amazing in Act II. If your antagonist is a cardboard cliche in Act I, they're not going to be Lex Luthor 10 pages later. If your clock's not ticking, if your motivations aren't present, if your plot's not established, if your voice isn't present... IF IT SUCKS IN ACT I, IT WILL SUCK IN ACT II (and III)!

Those first pages don't have to be perfect (hell, every line you write will be rewritten by the end), but they do need to be a good starting point. You need to lay down everything you need laid down. Rewrite that act over and over and over.

When you finish with it, read it over. Write down everything that doesn't seem to work in it. Then figure out ways to fix it. Experiment. Try new scenes and approaches. Try getting rid of that buddy character whose only purpose is for exposition. Try making the girl the main character instead of the boy. Try opening with a voice over. Try a flashback. Try cutting all that and just starting at the beginning of the story. Try every possible way to approach this story that you want to tell so badly. And then try some more.

It's important, it's crucial, it's (insert thesaurus entry of synonyms for word "essential") to start out right. Build a foundation that can support your story. But make it good. Make it strong.

And then... (drumroll)... Allow yourself to write crap! You sweat over 20-30 pages so much, take a break for the other 60-90. Let your mind wander. See where the story goes. Write as much crap as you like. If it doesn't work, back up and do it again. Unleash your imagination.

What you'll find is that even your crap smells sweeter now. Characters who utter moronic lines at least do it in character now. Contrived plot points at least contribute to an overall plot. It will all fit together, perhaps not well, but it will fit.

The rewrite will still be a bitch, but you have the frame of the script from which to work. And now you'll see forward progress. Each draft will bring you closer to the end. You'll definitely have to rewrite the opening eventually, but it will be in order to make it fit with a kick-ass ending, as opposed to starting from nothing.

Allowing yourself to write nothing but crap is a lazy form of writing. It doesn't challenge your mind to think of better solutions to problems, "Hey, I'll just skim over that problem and fix it in the rewrite." In fact, it doesn't challenge your mind to think at all. Too many talented writers have been tricked into thinking they had no ability because they followed that obnoxious advice.

Why write crap when you can write awesomeness?