You’ve got a script due and you have a deadline…but before anything else, you need an idea.

A precious few individuals may be able to sit down at the computer and start banging out words, completing a project in little time and with seemingly little effort. These people are generally referred to as freaks of nature, and should not be looked to when searching for inspiration for your own screenwriting.

So where do the rest of us come up with ideas, and how do we translate them to a screenplay and, eventually, to the screen? Much as we wish it just magically happened, it usually doesn’t work that way.

Everyone’s process is slightly different; some screenwriters take copious notes and write out themes, character motivations, and possible storylines. Others start with an idea and expand it into a summary, then bull their way through the actual writing of the script.

The problem is generating ideas, particularly on a deadline. You call on your brain to start turning, and instead of producing a storyboard, it flashes a blank screen. Not good at all, right? Novelists might call it writer’s block, or a number of other four-letter words we won’t repeat here. So how do you topple it quickly?

If you’ve got the time, change up your usual writing routine. Go outside, pull off your headphones, put aside your book, and just look at the world around you. There’s ideas in spades here, from the married couple arguing to the old man that sits in the same chair in the coffee house day in and day out. Think about his background. Why does he come there every day? Why that chair? Does it have sentimental meaning for him? Is he keeping a promise?

Maybe it’s just habit, but people don’t go to the movies to see habits (unless they’re bad habits, perhaps played out to disastrous conclusions). Let’s go back to the old man. What if he’s waiting to deliver something to someone? Is it a woman who never showed up? A grandchild he’s never met? A spy? Will he be here until the end of time?

What you’re looking for is the germ of an idea, something you can explore. Write down some notes to yourself. Look for characters, scenarios, and themes. Where you go from there depends on your own screenwriting habits, and what sort of movie you have in mind.