Remix Recipe №82
The Deadline Diary
Turn your work in progress into a series where every episode ends on a new deadline people follow for.
The hook template
I'm what you're working on because I have a silly little dream of your big dream. Right now, I'm your current deadline.
The hook in the wild
“I'm opening my own pottery studio because I have a silly little dream of teaching 100 students a week. Right now I have six weeks to fill my first class.”
“I'm learning Japanese because I have a silly little dream of living in Kyoto. Right now I have 90 days until my first real conversation.”
The recipe
- Topic
- A big goal you're actively working toward right now
- Take
- The honest snags and small wins only you are living through
- Format
- A build-in-public diary, voiced over b-roll of you doing the work and numbered by episode
The structure
- Dream
Open with the project you're working on and the big dream behind it, and call it a "silly little dream" so the viewer roots for you instead of rolling their eyes. Mention the episode number early so it reads as a series.
- Deadline
Shrink the dream to one near-term goal with a clock on it, a specific thing in a specific amount of time. The clock creates the stakes, so say it plainly and move on.
- Problem
Within the first ten seconds of the episode, name the snag you just hit, with one specific detail like how far behind you are. Keep it honest and a little funny, not dramatic.
- Win
Solve the problem in the very next scene and describe what clicked in concrete terms. Let the viewer feel like they were there working through it with you.
- Next deadline
Do not end on the win. Set a brand new, specific deadline for the next episode, slip in one line of credibility disguised as a joke, then invite them to follow along to see if you make it.
Your Studio follows these beats when it writes your script.
Why it worked
Each episode is a complete mini story: a big dream, a deadline, a problem, a win, then a brand new deadline. She never ends on the win, so there is always an open loop to come back for.
Calling the dream "silly little" makes a huge goal easy to root for, and her credibility (USC screenwriting) slips in disguised as a joke at the moment the stakes are highest, so you believe she can actually pull it off.