I think the best approach to writing is learning the different story telling formats; novels, plays for live theatre, screenplays, non-fiction books, short stories, and essays. The novel you're writing may be adapted to make a great screenplay. The screenplay you're writing may make a great outline for a novel. Staying flexible will help you avoid writer's block.

I enjoy watching movies, but I want to learn how to be a better writer in the process. I like to read the source material, whether it's a play for live theatre, a novel, a non-fiction book or a short story, then read the screenplay and finally watch the movie. If it's an original screenplay, then I read the screenplay and then watch the movie. It allows you to see how the story is adapted by the writer and then how the screenplay is interpreted by the director. DVD extras tend to focus more on costumes, set design and special effects; if you want to understand the how the story is developed you have to go the source...the writers. If you go to your local library, you may be surprised by how many published screenplays you'll find. We're all writing movies, they just appear in our heads first.