Get the F*ck Unstuck - Breakthrough Action Plan

Welcome to video 3 of the Get the F*ck Unstuck free video series.

I’m so happy to see all of the feedback I’ve gotten about how helpful the information has been for you and all of the takeaways you’ve gotten.

The strategies I share in these videos are the result of hard-earned lessons from my 25+ years in the business. I’ve been a development executive at Amblin and CBS, and I’m currently director of the WGA Showrunner Training Program, and creator and director of CBS/Paramount Diversity Writers Mentoring program, and an entertainment career coach. I’ve used these strategies to work through my own roadblocks when it came to writing my book Hollywood Game Plan: How to Land a Job in Film, TV or Digital Entertainment.

And I can proudly say I’ve had the honor of helping over 1,000 writers achieve their goals and I know what works.  

It’s been one of my biggest joys to see program participants and my private clients achieve their dreams. I’ve helped assistants and industry outsiders get staffed. I’ve seen disillusioned midlevel writers become writer/producers or even showrunners on series like “Bridgerton,” “Family Guy” and two series in CBS’s NCIS franchise. One writer wrote the feature M3gan and saw it go on to huge success. 

So, if you have great samples but haven’t been able to get staffed, or you’ve been staffed but feel stuck on a show you don’t love, and you can’t find the energy to write a new sample that helps you pivot to a more exciting series, or if you’ve only been hired to rewrite features written by big names, but never sell your own, the strategies I’ll share today can help you. 

I want you to feel confident that you’re nailing your meetings. When you come up with a great new idea, I want you to be excited about writing it, rather than dreading the empty page. I want you to feel proud every day of the progress you’ve made in this very competitive industry. 

The WGA is on strike right now. And while we’re all hoping for a quick resolution with a fair and equitable contract, we have no idea how long everything will be on pause. It sucks. But this is also a great opportunity to take stock of what’s keeping you stuck right now and shift your direction you you’re positioned to hit the ground running when the strike is over.

As a writer, your most precious asset is your time.

So if you’re not where you want to be in your career, it very likely has something to do with how you’re spending your time. 

 In my first video, we got clear on how exactly you’re spending your time. We identified the practical and emotional time sucks that could be costing you 3 to 5 or more hours a week..

In my second video, I shared strategies to eliminate these time sucks, and I walked you through how to free up those 3 to 5 hours a week to move your career forward regardless of what responsibilities and challenges you face.

In this video, we’ll explore ways to use your newfound time to propel your screenwriting career to the next level. These strategies can be a real game changer and make the difference between stagnation and big breakthroughs.

No more struggling to complete your original scripts and pitches or wondering why you aren’t getting staffed or selling your shows. It’s finally time to get to the next level of your career.

In this video, I’ll show you how to create a Breakthrough Action Plan tailored to your unique situation and goals, and how to put this plan into action every day. 

One of my clients, Naomi, was already a successful showrunner, a job that's rewarding and exciting, but one that can take up all your time and energy. She had an idea for a comedy feature. She loved the idea and wanted the pitch to be ready by the time her current show ended.  But between her job and caring for her family, she didn’t think she could make the pitch as great as it needed to be to sell it. So she kept putting it off, and she stayed stuck...for three years.  

I introduced Naomi to my Get The F*ck Unstuck process We used the strategies I shared in Video #2 to maximize her time and find an additional 5 hours each week. Then, we took a realistic look at how she could best use the time she had to work with.

We set generous, but firm deadlines for each step she would do to develop and write her pitch. Her Breakthrough Action Plan included specific strategies to overcome her self-defeating thoughts about the pitch not being perfect. I was there to support her, but also hold her accountable each step of the way. 

Six months later, Naomi completed her  pitch. And it was so good,  there was a bidding war for the project. It was exciting!  

So let’s craft your own Breakthrough Action Plan. It encompasses three parts that create momentum in your writing career:

Your mindset, skillset and tool set. 

Let’s look at Part 1 – MINDSET

Some clients believe that with a strong work ethic, they can power through a poor mindset. But that’s not the case; a self-defeating mindset will keep you stuck no matter what. 

One of my clients, Leah, had been an assistant to a powerful showrunner for over a year. She wanted to prove herself not just as a great assistant, but as a writer with promise. Leah had the great idea to pitch the showrunner a concept she’d been working on for a while.

One evening, he was waiting alone in his office to go to a dinner meeting. It was the perfect opportunity, but Leah just couldn’t bring herself to knock on his door and pitch her idea. She walked all the way over to his office but she was convinced her pitch would confirm her fear that he thought she’d never make it as a writer and she turned back. 

Leah’s boss left for his dinner, and she missed her chance. 

After Leah told me this story, we created a plan to shift her mindset. 

First, we identified the negative thoughts she had about herself, her abilities, and her career.

Then, I asked her to visualize something GREAT happening in her work life in 7 days. How did it feel in her body? I asked her to feel that confidence and energy. What did she see happening? Who was there? Who would she celebrate with? 

I asked her to write it all down like a short story or scene in a movie, and then copy it somewhere she could look at, like on the Notes app on her phone. Every morning, Leah read what she wrote and took note of how it made her feel.  She even recorded it and listened to it, because she’s an auditory person.  

After ten days, Leah had anchored the feeling of being a talented young writer who was going to get her big breakthrough. 

Now, the thought of pitching her idea to the showrunner didn’t feel as scary. Leah knocked on the showrunner’s door and pitched her idea without second guessing herself. Not only did her boss like it, he became a mentor to Leah. He even told Leah that she was more than welcome to pitch her ideas in the writers room.

If you struggle with thinking you’re not good enough or that people won’t respond your ideas, this strategy can work for you too, no matter what stage you’re at in your career. 

For 21 days, visualize something GREAT happening in your career.

What do you see happening?

Who is there?

Who would you celebrate with?

Pay attention to how this feels in your body.  Start your day with this visualization and the associated feelings, and then revisit it whenever the negative thoughts creep in. 

Replacing negative thought spirals with thoughts and feelings about positive outcomes actually rewires your brain. This new mindset and the feelings it creates will put you in a better position to turn your vision into a reality.

Let’s look at Part 2 of your Breakthrough Action Plan: Strengthening your SKILLSET. 

Your skillset is not just your writing, but the skills you need to sell yourself as a writer. This includes your samples, your relationships, and your personal brand. 

Each of these areas require a specific approach that I dive into with my students and clients. Your personal brand is one of the most overlooked areas. 

Many lower-level writers I work with don’t know the importance of their personal brand. They shoot themselves in the foot because how they present themselves and their life experience is a skill that successful mid and upper-level writers have mastered.

My client Tucker had been writing Hallmark movies for a few years, but wanted to break into the premium streaming space. These were the shows he loved. His reps pitched him to a couple of showrunners doing streaming series. Tucker had a few meetings, but nothing came of them.

I asked him to send me his bio and we looked at how he talks about himself in meetings. I immediately saw that Tucker wasn’t portraying himself as someone who had the edginess that prestige shows require. 

Then I gave Tucker an exercise that changed everything.

I had him create what I call Personal Nuggets, the key parts of a writer’s personal brand.  These are engaging anecdotes a writer tells that make them memorable and demonstrate why they’re perfect for a specific project.

Tucker did this exercise, focusing on the edgier parts of his life experience and his successes. We polished those nuggets and used them to tweak his bio. 

I’m happy to say that Tucker has met with a number of showrunners in the premium streaming world and has a follow up meeting with one of them.

What are your Personal Nuggets?

If you ask most people to tell you five interesting stories from their life, they’ll stare at you blankly. They can’t remember any of them. Here’s how to dig those anecdotes out from your memory. First, divide your life into 5-year increments:  0-5 years old, 5-10 years old and so on. 

Then, write down at least two colorful stories and one success for each of the 5 year increments. Think of stories that have always gotten great reactions. 

Then, think of the type of project you want to write. Highlight the Personal Nuggets from your five-year increments that speak most to the POV of the project and space you want to work in. You’ll be amazed how powerful this is.

The third and final element of the Breakthrough Action Plan is Your TOOL SET. 

You’ll lean on your tool set to make your positive changes stick. I want to give you tools and failsafe measures to ensure that your new commitment to moving forward doesn’t meet the same fate as all the half read self help books on your nightstand. I’m not a superwoman. I’ve committed to change and then slid back into my old ways like anyone else. 

As I shared in an earlier video, I wanted to write a book on how to break into the industry. I’d been thinking about how to do it for 15 years. I finally got a publisher and even cashed the check for the advance. But a year went by, and I hadn’t started writing yet. 

I bought every book on motivation and goals I could find. I did seminars and workshops. I committed to “actually getting my book written ‘for real this time” three different times. The fourth time was different because I found the tools, structure, and support I needed. Then I continued to build on these solutions to create the process that I now share in my coaching programs and in the select strategies I’m sharing in this video series. 

First, I decided on a 30-day goal.

This should be a goal that is related to just one project. To make sure it’s a realistic goal and not a perfectionist one, make sure this is a goal you feel like you could still accomplish if something really annoying and time consuming came up in your life this month, like getting rear-ended (assuming nothing serious happened).

Then, break that 30-day goal down into its smallest parts. What are the smallest baby steps that you’ll need to accomplish to get it done?  Each baby step should feel easy and doable. For me one baby step was to come up with a first draft of chapter titles.

Once you accomplish all of your small tasks, you’ll have achieved your 30-day goal which once felt so out of reach.

Then the next tool is to tell someone you like and trust what your 30-day goal is and when you’ll complete it. Then report back to them once you’ve accomplished your goal so the two of you can celebrate your success.

Once I started using these tools, I was able to write my book in seven months. It wasn’t always smooth sailing, but I used the tools, followed my structure, took advantage of my support, and got it done. 

Now, you have a few key strategies and tools to get yourself unstuck. These steps seem simple at first, and sometimes they are, but putting them into action has layers of complexity. You need to figure out what is realistic to accomplish in a given length of time and know how to get around any obstacles that might come up.

Creating a Breakthrough Action Plan tailored to your unique obstacles and goals, along with personal feedback, accountability and support is what you need to break through to the next level of your career. 

Waking up and realizing that your life is finally becoming the life you once dreamed of is an incredible feeling. I want as many writers as possible to experience this.

That’s why I created a program for screenwriters who are ready to fully commit to accomplishing the goals that will get them to the next level in their careers.

As I mentioned in the last video, what I’ve shared so far in the short time we’ve had together can truly help you start your journey to getting unstuck, but this is just the tip of the iceberg.

There are so many more tools, strategies, mindset tips & trick, and personal branding tactics I can share that can truly accelerate your success if we had more time together.

Strategies and tools are essential, but knowing how to make them work for your unique situation and working through your personal challenge spots —is where the art—and coaching—come in.

If often takes an outside perspective to show you your personal blind spots, anticipate your challenge spots, and offer fresh insights and new solutions you may not have even thought of.

If you’re still feeling stuck after these videos, or you know you want additional training, coaching, accountability and support, I encourage you to join our program.

The program offers the time for you to go deeper into these strategies, and several others that are equally helpful in different ways. It also gives me the space to offer you coaching, additional training, accountability and support, including answers to your specific questions and help with individual challenges.

I want to use my years of experience as a Hollywood executive, program director and entertainment career coach working with over 1000 writers, to help you achieve the big breakthroughs in your career that you’ve been wanting.

I’ve helped so many screenwriters break through their barriers, complete their original scripts and projects, get staffed as writers and showrunners, elevate their personal brand, and sell their shows. 

They’ve experienced the fulfillment and confidence that comes from achieving their dreams. You can do the same.

I’ll soon be opening up the doors to my Get the F*ck Unstuck Coaching Program.  I’m keeping the coaching group small so that I can give personalized attention, feedback and support.

And for those who’ve joined us before and choose to re-enroll, you’ll get all the tools I've offered in the past, along with new strategies and applications tailored to the current state of the industry.  

Stay tuned for the last video of our series, where I’ll share your next steps in the journey and all the details of the Get the F*ck Unstuck Coaching Program.

Until then, I’d love for you to let me know what outcomes you’d love to see in your screenwriting career once you put these strategies into action. Leave a comment below, and I look forward to hearing from you.

I look forward to seeing you in the next video!