Write Out of Order: Skip to the Good Stuff

A Creative Boost From San Miguel to Your Screen

You’re staring at your screen. The next scene is supposed to be two characters walking and talking, or someone showing up late to dinner, or any number of transition beats that make up the connective tissue of a script. But your mind keeps wandering to something else. The rooftop confrontation. The betrayal. The kiss. The explosion. The moment when everything changes.

Here’s your permission: write that scene right now.

Skip ahead. Write the part that thrills you, scares you, makes your pulse quicken. Write the emotional climax, the fall from grace, the reveal, the twist. Nobody said your screenplay has to be written in order. In fact, sometimes the best thing you can do for your story is leap ahead to the part that excites you. The one you’ve already blocked out in your head, line by line, even if you haven’t touched page 37 yet.

There’s a common trap writers fall into, especially in screenwriting. We start to think that because films unfold linearly, our writing process should too. We tell ourselves that we can’t write scene 29 before scene 12. That we have to “earn” our way to the good stuff. But writing isn’t a test, and there’s no one watching over your shoulder. The scenes you’re itching to write, the moments you keep circling back to in your head, are signals. That’s where the story is alive. That’s where your energy is.

Momentum builds motivation. Writing a scene that excites you reconnects you to your script. You remember what the characters want, what is at stake, and why you started this story in the first place. And once that spark is back, everything else starts to move more easily. When you know what the payoff looks like, it becomes easier to build toward it. Instead of dreading the next scene, you’re writing with purpose.

Let the story take you where it wants to go. If the scene you can’t stop thinking about happens on a rooftop at sunset, maybe your imagination is already in San Miguel. Maybe it looks a little like Quince, with a soft breeze coming off the city and mezcal on the table. Let your character speak honestly, or screw everything up, or say what they’ve been avoiding for pages. Don’t wait for the rest of the script to give you permission. If the moment is ready, write it.

Writing out of order is not about being reckless. It’s about being responsive. You are following the pulse of your own story, not a checklist. If today the only thing you have in you is that one confrontation or that one kiss or that one quiet moment of regret, give yourself the space to write it. Let it live on the page. The rest will catch up.

Eat. Write. Roam.

Write out of order. Skip to the good stuff. Your story will thank you.

Photo Credit: Quince Rooftop