Screenwriting : To Write or... by Jeremy Kriss

“A writer is someone for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people.” - Thomas Mann

Sometimes it's like pinch running, because the thing you're writing (meaning: rewriting) isn't the new thing that excites you, it's just a job you assigned for yourself and you're on third base but YOU CAN'T STEAL HOME!

I enjoy the process of writing, it's a series of challenges. And writing is rewriting, which your students will eventually learn when they read what they have written a few months from now.

Writing is the closest thing I'll ever get to magic. Every time I sit down to the screenplay is an opportunity to find that magic.

I enjoy the discovery the most. Yeah, there are days when writing is a grind...and completing any big project requires a strong tolerance for the grind, but overall...I love the work. The biz side is always the hard part...selling that screenplay or novel. Oh, the horrible sting of rejection!

The running analogy works on a few levels. Those who run (or workout regularly) understand that their body gets addicted to it, and if they go without they go through a sort of withdrawal but if kept up they are able to push their bodies to new levels of endurance. Writing can very much feel like a marathon, but the more you do it the more you are able to do. Writers should absolutely write everyday, even if it is just a paragraph or one scene -- regaining momentum takes three times as much energy as sustaining momentum.

I love writing! Maybe you're meant to be doing something else, Jeremy? Recent research has shown that writing things by hand engages the brain differently than typing does. Why don't you try to take a notebook or legal pad to a quiet place in nature, or at home, with phone turned off, and see if you enjoy the feel of ink on paper. (Quiet music allowed, maybe jazz or classical with no singing.) Start by writing a letter to a friend that you don't talk to very much. Or a letter to the editor of your local newspaper. Or try a Dear Diary entry. Then move on to the fictional story you have in your head. I wrote an entire novel by hand, before transcribing it electronically. There's a lot of freedom in doing that--you're not rearranging paragraphs, correcting spelling, or doing anything else that interferes with your basic creative process. Yes, rewriting is harder, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder. You can never please everybody, so pleasing yourself should be high on the list.

I have to write, I have to get the ideas and thoughts out of my head and on paper...its a relief...kind of therapeutic in a way; and yes I said paper. I write everything out and then type it on my laptop...there is just something about the hand written word on a page.

Writing is hard work. Those who think writing is easy are the people who do not write. It's because they don't think editing is part of the writing process. When I teach manuscript development classes, I usually tell my students: you know you've done a good job editing when you absolutely hurl at the thought of re-reading your work. That is the case in writing books, anyway. :) Whether one is penning their first page or have had hundreds of thousands of pages under their belt, that blank Word page is one of the most intimidating things we see -- until we write that first word/line, then it flows out of us like butter.

I would say if you only feel good when you stop, you need to explore why you write. Writing is for sure hard yards, but it has to be in your DNA. Pushing through the hard times is a must, but never hate it. We all have our down moments trust me. I produced 88 drafts of my first screenplay before the producer accepted it. Keep the faith Jeremy and never quit if it's in your soul to write.

Wow. I LOVE writing. I love the process. I usually get depressed when it's over. But then there's the next story....

I think you all think too much. Just write. Have fun and be free.

Jessie, I think you're right, we all think too much. But what is wrong with thinking too much? I have fun thinking too much.

Kathryn, there are other reasons. I'm mostly in the "hate it" column. I write because I love having created. But the process of CREATING? Ninety percent pain, ten percent pleasure. But then the satisfaction of holding a completed script in my fists? That's why I do it.

Well D we all know how the old saying goes, "Too much of anything is a bad thing" but do what makes you happy, sir!

I echo much of what has been written here! For me, writing and composing are like breathing. I'm just constantly compelled to do it. It's an addiction because, as painful as it is, it is simultaneously therapeutic. I am at that stage where ideas come faster than I can write. The challenge is to just find sufficient time to work on the most important ideas du jour. I write at every opportunity. Sometimes the wife asks me, "What are you doing in there?" Gack! You caught me! I've been writing ...

This is a conversation I've actually been seeing all over the web lately. Opinions on the matter are definitely polarized. Though, I feel this is entirely a personal matter instead of a quantifiable experience that has the same results for everyone. Writing is something I can turn on and off and comes very easy. This does NOT mean that I refrain from editing. On the contrary! But I write everyday and every time I do it feels easy, natural, and I'm typically pleased with the results. I do have a lot to learn and I improve everyday, but I would definitely remark that writing is very, very easy. I agree that there are those out there who throw words on a page and call it writing but there are those of us out there who really can write what they want, when they want, and how they want. Its as easy as walking or talking.

It's like sex, feels great when it's going well

... or pizza. Even when it's bad, it's still good.

I think it makes sense that writers approach writing differently. I know for me sometimes I love it and sometimes it's awful. Did you ever see that meme that went around that described the creative process something like this: 1)This is good. 2)Ugh, it's not going well. 3)OMG this is total crap and the worst thing I've ever done. 4) Wait, I might be able to save this. 5) I think this is good. When I think of novice writers though, the biggest hurdle they have to get through is to just write. So maybe that's why they think it's easy now, because they got over the initial hurdle. Now they need to grow to start pulling the good from the bad.

I feel bad when I am not writing . Like I'm missing something.