Writing Advice: Start With a Moral, Keep Your Stories Short, and Focus on Finishing

If you have ADHD or autism and struggle with procrastination, writer's block, or finishing your stories, one approach worth trying is to start with a moral or message you want your story to communicate.

This is especially helpful if you want to write but don't have a specific story in mind yet.

1. Start With a Moral or an Idea You Want to Explore

Instead of writing just to write, think about something you've watched, read, or experienced. Perhaps there's a trope you dislike, a fictional character whose actions you disagree with, or a criticism of a character that you don't think is fair.

Use that as inspiration for a story.

For example, suppose you disagree with the idea that Thanos was right. You could write a story in which characters explore why killing half the universe wouldn't solve its problems. The universe has enormous resources, and even Earth has resources that humanity hasn't fully utilized. Food production, for instance, can produce enormous quantities from relatively few seeds.

Rather than simply arguing about Thanos, you could create your own characters, conflict, and fictional universe to explore the idea. The story could demonstrate why mass killing is an immoral and unnecessary solution to resource scarcity.

The important thing is to make the story your own rather than creating direct copies of existing characters.

A moral gives your story a purpose. It gives you something to explore, a conflict to develop, and a point to communicate. This is one reason moral lessons can be so effective in Disney films and other stories for younger audiences.

A moral can also help you determine when your story is finished. Once you've sufficiently explored the conflict and communicated your message, you have a natural endpoint.

2. Write Short Stories Instead of Overwhelming Yourself With Large Projects

If you struggle to finish stories, consider starting with something short.

You can always expand a story into multiple episodes, short films, or related short stories later. You don't have to develop an entire feature-length film before you can share your ideas with an audience.

For some writers, a short film or episodic series is a more manageable starting point than a feature-length screenplay. A project that takes less time to complete can give you a sense of accomplishment and make it easier to move on to the next one.

This doesn't mean you should never write long stories. It means you should consider the amount of work you're realistically able to manage.

3. Understand Why Micro-Dramas Are Popular

Micro-dramas and short-form videos aren't necessarily popular because people have short attention spans. Someone who enjoys a two-minute drama might also happily watch a full-length movie, such as Zootopia.

I can enjoy short videos on TikTok and still watch a movie for 43 minutes or longer. The formats aren't mutually exclusive.

One advantage of short-form content is that it's easier to finish quickly. A 30-second video requires far less time than a one-hour film, and viewers can immediately move on to the next piece of content.

Short videos can also benefit from recommendation algorithms, engagement, and repeated exposure. When people finish watching, like, and share engaging content, it can gain additional visibility.

Of course, short content still needs to be interesting. People aren't going to keep watching something they dislike simply because it's brief.

The same applies to micro-dramas, which often run for just a few minutes per installment. Their shorter format makes them easier to consume, while compelling characters, dramatic conflicts, and engaging storytelling encourage viewers to return.

Longer films can also attract enormous audiences, but they generally require a different level of commitment from viewers. Their success depends on factors such as storytelling, presentation, and promotion, not simply their length.

The advantage of short-form storytelling isn't that audiences can't pay attention. It's that a shorter project is easier to finish, share, and experience in one sitting.

4. Consider Making Short Films of Around 11 to 20 Minutes

If you want to create films but struggle with the demands of a feature-length production, consider aiming for a short film of approximately 11 to 20 minutes.

This gives you more room to develop characters and conflicts than a very short micro-drama while keeping the project relatively manageable.

You can use the format to explore a single moral, develop one central conflict, or tell a complete story with a beginning, middle, and end.

For example, instead of trying to write a feature-length film immediately, you could develop a short film that explores one character's moral dilemma. If the concept works and you want to expand it, you can build on that foundation later.

The goal is to create something substantial enough to be satisfying without making the project so large that finishing it becomes overwhelming.

5. Break Large Screenplays Into Smaller Episodes

Another approach is to divide a feature-length screenplay into smaller installments.

Suppose you want to write a screenplay of approximately 43 pages. Instead of treating all 43 pages as one enormous task, you could divide it into sections of roughly 10 pages each.

Each section could become a short episode or installment, depending on the story's structure. You could publish the installments separately, build an audience, and eventually combine them into a complete film if the format and production allow it.

This approach has several potential advantages:

• Smaller goals: Completing 10 pages can feel more manageable than completing an entire screenplay.

• Earlier progress: You can finish and share sections of the story while continuing to develop the rest.

• Audience building: Releasing installments can help people discover your project before the full version is complete.

• More opportunities to improve: Feedback from earlier installments may help you refine later sections.

• A finished product: You can still work toward combining the installments into the larger story you originally envisioned.

Keep in mind that screenplay page counts are only rough estimates of screen time. Six pages might represent approximately six minutes in some scripts, but dialogue, action, pacing, and formatting can change the final runtime. Similarly, dividing a screenplay into episodes requires attention to pacing and satisfying stopping points.

The idea is to divide the work into manageable stages without losing the story's overall direction.

6. Don't Let AI Make You Think Finishing Will Be Effortless

AI tools can help with brainstorming, outlining, drafting, and other parts of the creative process. However, using AI doesn't automatically eliminate procrastination or make a large project easy to finish.

You still have to make decisions, review the material, maintain consistency, revise the story, and bring the project together.

Sometimes, repeatedly generating new ideas or revising existing material can become another form of procrastination. You might spend so much time improving the concept that you never complete the actual project.

That's why setting smaller goals can be useful, even when you're working with AI.

Instead of trying to produce an entire film at once, focus on completing one scene, one short script, or one episode. Once you finish that part, move on to the next.

The objective isn't to create the perfect story immediately. It's to make consistent progress toward a finished one.

7. If You Can't Finish the Screenplay, Consider Turning It Into a Book

Sometimes a story works better in a different format, or you might find that writing prose is more manageable than producing a screenplay.

If you've developed an interesting plot but repeatedly struggle to finish the screenplay, consider adapting the material into a book or short story.

You could also share a screenplay excerpt as a preview, build interest in the project, and explore ways to fund a future film production.

For independent creators working alone, building an audience and finding collaborators can be valuable steps toward making a larger project possible.

A smaller release can serve as a starting point rather than a replacement for your original ambition.

The important thing is not to abandon a promising story simply because one particular format has become difficult to manage.

Final Advice

If you struggle with procrastination, writer's block, or finishing creative projects, try starting with a moral or idea you genuinely want to explore. Build a short story around it, give the story a clear endpoint, and expand it only when you're ready.

You can write short films, episodic stories, micro-dramas, or books. You can use AI to help with the process, publish installments to build an audience, and eventually develop a larger production.

You don't have to start with a two-hour movie to become a storyteller.

Start small, finish something, and build from there. A completed short story can give you a foundation for a much larger project, while an unfinished masterpiece can leave you stuck in development indefinitely.