The Writing Process

The image above is a puzzle that took months to solve. Every word or phrase was judiciously placed to represent a sequence, which was then written on a few properly formated pages to form a screenplay. At times, there were huge gaps between these words that, trying to fill, led to moments of frustration and self-degradation. It sounds harsh, I know.
Sometimes you tell people you want to make a career out of filmmaking and they look at you like you're an idiot. This is mainly because filmmaking is easy work and contributes nothing to society. It's really just an excuse to leave the hard work for everyone else while you're off having fun. We all know you aren't allowed to have any fun whilst contributing to society.
Okay that's not entirely true. Filmmaking is not easy, and it's something that can be extremely taxing both mentally and physically. For example, writing a screenplay. As far as it being a detriment to society? If you've ever watched a movie and you think that, you can shut up.
All ranting aside, I'm nearly finished writing the first draft of This American Town and it's been hard. If you're reading this and have no idea what that is, it's a feature film I plan to make in the coming years. Anyway, in the process of it's development, I've spent the past year in deep thought formulating, researching, and writing the story; and I still have many more months dedicated to rewriting it over and over again.
There have been periods of doubt on my writing and periods where I've found myself staring at the blinking cursor on the screen for hours on end. I've spent hours writing something and then deleting it all the next day. Not to mention, the many times where I've had no motivation to write at all.
I'm a perfectionist, which is my shortcoming. For example, I went a week without writing because I had no idea what kind of water pumps are used on a farms irrigation system and I couldn't find an answer. Eventually I told myself to just write "water pump" and figure out the logistics later.
Like an addict, this was the moment I finally realized I'd hit my all time low and needed to turn things around. There's some great advice I've been given many times, but in never really clicked until that moment. Simply, the first draft is always going to suck and you should just keep writing until you're done. If you're struggling to name a character and it's taking you more than two minutes, call him Mr. Poopy Pants and move on; you can change it later. In the end, you could have 30 pages of useless drivel, but one character or sentence from those 30 pages that can grow exponentially.
I apply this knowledge to Dory, that lovable fish from Finding Nemo, and her motto to "just keep swimming." The writing process is the moment you begin turning a thought into something tangible, which is what brings the self-conscious emotions. It's always nerve-racking to share something you've been working on with others as you never know how they'll react. Especially in my case since I write things that aren't as immature as I really am. Regardless, you have to push those thoughts aside and keep going. You have to get over yourself and realize you're not all you're cracked up to be.
The best scripts... the best novels... they all started somewhere below the threshold of mediocrity. If they didn't you're either a genius or you just got lucky. Also, I don't like you.