Three Good Pages, Long Walks, Thick Skin: Habits From Working Writers
Summary
Gillian Flynn's daily floor, Maria Popova's walking routine and advice from Austin's Screenwriters to Watch point to sustainable ways to write.
"Writers who keep producing tend to set modest, repeatable targets rather than heroic ones. Gillian Flynn told David Perell on the How I Write podcast that on hard days she aims for three good pages, No Film School reported. Maria Popova, discussing her process with Perell, does much of her thinking on daily walks, so that time at the computer becomes closer to transcription, according to a No Film School summary of the conversation. The same piece notes she researches in libraries and archives rather than relying on the internet alone.
Writers named to the Austin Film Festival's 2026 Screenwriters to Watch list shared similar advice with MovieMaker Magazine. Buck Bloomingdale, whose Riding Hurt sold at auction to Teton Ridge, said the most reliable advice he has heard is to ""read a lot, and write a lot,"" and cited Mark Duplass's line that ""the cavalry isn't coming."" Thara Popoola advised separating your identity from your projects so rejection feels less personal, and Jan Saczek recommended working with people more talented than yourself and trusting their instincts.
For writers with day jobs, the common thread is fitting the work into ordinary life: a fixed daily minimum, thinking time attached to routine activity, and a steady intake of other people's films and books."
