Time frames differ from writer to writer for bringing in a first draft..

According to Charles Deemer, some writers are Tree People and write from the hip, they jump straight in and they write with the flow of it..

Other writers, who plan everything, these are referred to as Forest People, they plan their structure, the plot points, inciting, mid-point and reversal (this means they know the end before they start), they develop full back histories for all their characters...

No one type of writer can be said to use or write with a correct method because there isn't one..

You do whatever works for yourself..

Life can get in the way of writing and a sense of discipline is required from yourself.. Some of the suggestions in this thread regarding dedicating 2 or 3 hours a day when writing a screenplay is sound advice..

The great things about writing is no one day is the same because you try and move forward into other scenes and develop dialogue which moves the story forward.

The trick with writing a First Draft is to just strive to write 90 to 100 pages, complete the thing then go back and chainsaw it, fix the structure, tighten up the dialogue and ensure your writing is concise and to the point but tells an interesting story which people  want to read.. It is probably equally important that you pay as much attention to the formatting as you do with your story and character details..

This is why being a member of the SimplyScripts community is a good thing because other writers can read your work, provide help and good friendly advice but more importantly, inspire you to go and carry on with additional revisions and re-writes because writing can be a lonely enterprise so the feedback on this board is an extremely valuable resource..

I agree completely with Kevan. I guess I'm a "Forest Person" lol. I plan absolutely everything before I sit down to write and this saves me a lot of hassle in the long run, because I don't really need to add in more character-defining moments or story points after I've completed the screenplay.

I couldn't start a script without knowing everything about it beforehand. That, to me, would be like trying to drive a car with no gas. I need to know every plot point so that I can make the preceding scenes lead up to it properly and the proceeding scenes carry on from it properly.

That's just my way, but I really take my hat off to those writers who just make it up as they go along, with only a vague story and premise to guide them. I think that takes a lot of intuition and can sometimes be a hit or miss.

My general method is planning out my plot points, but then mostly writing from the hip. I've watched so many films, I can see what I'm writing in my head as I go along, and can pretty much see what needs to happen to create the path to where I need to go and make it look like the characters actually got there on their own.

Quoted from Acroname I couldn't start a script without knowing everything about it beforehand. That, to me, would be like trying to drive a car with no gas. I need to know every plot point so that I can make the preceding scenes lead up to it properly and the proceeding scenes carry on from it properly.

I'm the same way.  I have to have virtually every scene in the movie planned so that I know what to foreshadow, the basic structure, conflict, all that.  

I think this is good in many ways, and a handicap in others.  Instead of limiting myself, I think I could really benefit from "writing from the hip".

Yeah me too. About two years ago I wrote a feature length script in about a week or two. I knew only the basic story and only some of the characters. And come to think of it, that was probably the most fun I've ever had writing a screenplay.

There were no real points to hit. I could just write it all down and it would make sense to the story. I wrote it by hand in two writing pads, which probably added to the feeling of freedom. And now, two years on, I still think it would make a good film. With some changes here and there, of course.

But then again, if I just waited and planned it all out scene-by-scene from beginning to end, there wouldn't be many changes to be made lol! I think I'll just stick to my normal "forest person's" approach, even if it is a little boring at times!