5 Ways Busy Parents Can Succeed at Screenwriting

How can you find the time to write that screenplay when you're a busy parent juggling a hectic schedule?

Finding time to write has always been a problem. It's hard enough to schedule time to write when you're working a regular full-time job, working multiple part-time jobs, or if you're a full-time student — now imagine what it's like to juggle all of that while also being a parent. Chances are that many of you reading this right now are in that situation.

You're working in a career outside of Hollywood with dreams of making a living as a screenwriter. Or maybe you are working in Hollywood, but in a corporate sector or some other branch not related to creative and cinematic storytelling. Or perhaps you're a stay-at-home mother or father, which we all know is a full-time job in and of itself — one that doesn't just entail a 9-5 workday schedule. It's a 24/7 deal.

As a parent trying to break into the business of screenwriting, typical time management advice from articles and gurus doesn't apply. It's almost laughable.

You can't simply get up an extra hour or two early because your kids are already getting up at ungodly hours of the morning, expecting you to get them dressed, fed, and off to school. If you have children that aren't in school yet, the kids still get up early and require even more of your attention and parental sacrifice.

You can't just sit down in front of your computer or laptop at work during a 30-minute lunch break because by the time you get your mind into that screenwriting gear, your lunch is already half over and you haven't eaten anything yet — which will kick your butt as the day goes on.

You can't just turn the TV off and save yourself a couple of hours for writing because by the time the evening has finally come and the kids have settled down to bed after homework, sports practice, and dinner, you're exhausted from a days work at home or at the workplace — and yes, you have to clean the dinner dishes, ready the clothes for the next day, do the laundry, and if you're lucky maybe find an hour to spend alone in quiet for sanity's sake or fall asleep to a show with your significant other.

But there's hope. Believe it or not, you can manage to juggle parenthood and screenwriting without being an insomniac, driving yourself crazy, or neglecting your spousal, parental, or work duties.

I've been a work-from-home dad for twelve years — which is to say that I haven't had a cubical, office, or workstation since 2006. I left my position at Sony Pictures to raise our then-newborn son from home after my wife and I saw the ridiculous cost of daycare. I've since been at home raising two boys.

During these last twelve years, I've had to balance full-time parental duties with remote contracts jobs, full-time remote jobs, writing on spec, and writing on assignment for studio and indie gigs. So here are some tips from a parent and screenwriter that's been in the parental trenches and has somehow managed to find the time to finish a career's-worth of scripts to varying degrees of success.

1. Get Your Significant Other On Board

You're going to need some help. Husbands, wives, and life partners of screenwriters are the unsung heroes of the screenwriting trade. If an Oscar ever comes, you can be damn sure that my wife is going to get the trophy in the end. Until then, I hold her in the highest regard for putting up with schedule demands, especially when push came to shove and I had to literally walk away from my family for twelve hours or more at a time — almost every day for a three-week stretch — when I had my first big assignment with a ridiculous deadline.

Parents that are screenwriters often quit — or live in guilt — because of what they are required to ask of their significant others and their family as a whole. It shouldn't have to come to that. You can make it work.

It may be a deadline that you're trying to make, industry phone calls that you need to partake in, or time to make that last push to finish that final draft. Whatever it is, there are days or weeks when you need those big chunks of time to focus and write.

So what can you do?

Swap kid duties with your significant other. Do your part and serve your time, but ask them to do the same. Both you and your partner in life need a break from the hustle and bustle of parenthood. Give them their time and let them give you your time — whether it's for an hour, two hours, half a day, or more at a time.

Make it mutually beneficial and fair.

And better yet, come up with a general weekly schedule that you can both agree upon. Any amount of time you can get away counts — and it has the added benefit of both you and your significant other enjoying some quality time alone with the kids. Children love their mommy time and their daddy time.

If you're a single parent — bless you, first and foremost — get your parents, siblings, relatives, or friends on board. Chances are they'd love their own quality time with your kids as well. Swap kid duties if they have their own kids, allowing them to benefit from the arrangement as well.

Don't be afraid or hesitant to lean on those you love.

2. Write In Your Head 

Writing isn't about putting fingers to keys or pencil to paper. You can do your best writing by focusing on visualizing and constructing scenes and moments through your own mind's eye. You should be doing this anyway before you attempt to write a single word.

So before you go to the park, go on that walk, go to the children's museum or library, go to the grocery store, and go to the sports practices with your children in tow, decide what scenes you are going to be writing in your head and then take that time to visualize it over and over. Figure out what you want to do with those scenes and moments.

You will have plenty of time to free your mind during those daily parental rituals and duties. You can even do this during your work day as you go on break, eat lunch, zone out during remedial tasks, or during that eventual slack off time throughout your shift.

When you're writing for the screen, you have to visualize those cinematic scenes anyway. Why not use those moments to free your mind and write in your head to prepare you for when you do make the time to actually type?

3. Write On Your Phone

While you are visualizing your scenes, you can use the notepad on your smartphones to make notes.

Creating scenes and moments doesn't have to entail fully realizing them within your screenwriting software, complete with perfect screenplay format. You can use your smart phone's notepad to simply type out a scene heading or brief description of what you've visualized:

TWO DRUNK TEENS GO FOR A MIDNIGHT SWIM IN THE OCEAN

And then you can add some fragmented visuals, plot points, and actions that come to mind:

• The guy is so drunk he doesn't even make it to the water. 
• She does. 
• She swims nude. 
• Something swims beneath the water below her. 
• It takes a bite and drags her through the surface of the water. 
• She disappears. 

That's all you need. You've created a scene and a striking cinematic moment with maybe one minute of typing on your phone. Now figure out what's next and type it out and you slowly build and build content for your actual writing session — whenever that may be.

4. Focus on Writing in Short Bursts

Despite what you may have heard or read, you don't need to sit down in front of the screen for six to eight hours to make the best progress in your writing. In fact, most of the writers that declare that they do this are lying or misrepresenting the amount of actual typing that they do. Most of that time is spent staring at that blinking cursor or gazing out the window. You've already done that part by writing in your head throughout the day and week — that was the true preparation for this next step.

Short bursts can be anywhere from thirty minutes to an hour. Just enough time to write during naps, practices, lunches, bath time, or right before bed.

You can also schedule slightly longer bursts — two to three hours — if you work out a schedule with your significant other, family, or friends on the weekends or certain evenings that allow for slightly longer chunks of time to write.

If you've visualized scenes and moments and have collected those thoughts on the notepad of your smartphone, you can write upwards of ten pages in one single hour-long burst of typing, slightly fleshing out those fragmented visuals, plot points, and actions.

If you write just ten pages during ten sessions of writing, you've got a script right there. Then you can shift into the rewriting of those pages for future writing sessions.

5. Plan a Writing Retreat

"Oh, there's no way I could find the time to do that." Yes, you can.

"Oh, I can't afford anything like that." Yes, you can.

It's common — and very easy — to find excuses not to write when you're a parent. You owe it to yourself to find the time. Your family owes it to you to pursue a dream after everything you've sacrificed for them — especially if it's just chunks of time here and there.

Writing retreats are a great way for you to get a lot of work done, especially after you've managed to follow the previous four steps above.

The writing retreats entail a whole day at the coffee shop, Barnes and Noble (my favorite haunt), or the local library.

They can also be extended retreats with overnight stays at a nearby hotel, bed and breakfast, or a place where you can splurge and travel to.

Even a $175-$200 room at a nice hotel near you can be so worth the money spent.

These days, you can go to AirBnB and find amazing deals for extended stays — either locally or at the nearest big city or whatever place you'd like to venture to.

Close your eyes. Picture a whole room, suite, or charming cabin that you have to yourself. No kids. Nobody knocking at your door. Just you, your laptop, whatever music you write to, and the worlds and characters that you create.

Read ScreenCraft's How to Use Music to Write Better Screenplays!

Budget a trip like that at least once a year. It's more affordable than you think. And the writing benefits are unparalleled. In one overnight writing retreat, you could finish one third, one half, or more of your script, depending on your preparation. If you marry this retreat with the above four steps, you could finish a script and walk out of that room, suite, or charming cabin feeling utterly euphoric.

If you can get your significant other, family, or friends on board to help you out just a little, your writing would reap the benefits.

Writing in your head can save you hours upon hours of work in front of the laptop.

Logging your thoughts on your smart phone's notepad can help to organize your visualizations and ready you for the actual typing part of the process.

Focusing on writing in short bursts will allow you to continue to add more and more pages to your script.

And finally, leaning on your significant other, family, or friends to help take care of the kids while you go off on a much-deserved writing retreat will give you the push you need to get that script done while enjoying a serene environment with no distractions. And the added benefit is the ability to quiet your inner soul and balance yourself for when you return to your daily grind — and because of that, it won't feel like as much of a grind compared to when you left.

You deserve it. You deserve the chance to pursue this dream. It's not always easy to do these steps, but it's easier than you think. Just do it.

Ken Miyamoto has worked in the film industry for nearly two decades, most notably as a studio liaison for Sony Studios and then as a script reader and story analyst for Sony Pictures.

He has many studio meetings under his belt as a produced screenwriter, meeting with the likes of Sony, Dreamworks, Universal, Disney, Warner Brothers, as well as many production and management companies. He has had a previous development deal with Lionsgate, as well as multiple writing assignments, including the produced miniseries Blackout, starring Anne Heche, Sean Patrick Flanery, Billy Zane, James Brolin, Haylie Duff, Brian Bloom, Eric La Salle, and Bruce Boxleitner. Follow Ken on Twitter @KenMovies

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