Screenwriting : You cannot write alone by Gordon Greaves

Writing is by definition a solitary craft.  I've just met deadline delivering a TV pilot, and in order to do that final last push, I left the city and stayed in a small cottage in the vineyards an hour's drive out of town. It gave me the simplicity, quiet and solitude I needed to really focus hard on getting that script into the best possible shape.

So then why am I saying you can't write alone? Because as creators we have the perennial problem of distance. We become so immersed in our project that we can't see the wood for the trees. Speaking for myself, I simply cannot write without having my work assessed by someone else.

An objective perspective will reveal things to you that will often seem ridiculously apparent, now that they've been pointed out to you, but without that fresh eye, you may never have picked up on it.

All the time I was in the vineyards, I was bouncing stuff off my mentor by email. She pointed out really crucial re-writes that, had I not done them, would have left the script in a worse state than the one I finally delivered.

I think this is especially so when you get down to those final last drafts.

My mentor is a university professor, an academic who lectures on media and writing. She'll call a spade a spade, but that's why I use her. I can't afford to have sugarcoating. Not if I'm serious about my work. I pay her a consult fee and it's a business transaction. I expect her to be thorough and apply her critical skills to my work, and between the two of us, we'll produce a better script. She never gets personal, she addresses the work, her comments are polite but pointed. She knows what I'm capable of and doesn't allow me to slide by with anything less.

I'll be honest: sometimes I do feel 'Why am I doing this? I'm so bloody awful!' after an intense session with her. I think every writer does from time to time. Fortunately I'm a glass half full kind of guy (either that or my tenacity is borne out of sheer stupidity - I'm never sure which), so I push through, sit myself down and start working through the changes.

Oh, and the cool thing about her is she's NOT a screenwriter. She never teaches by doing. But boy, does she know her shit when it comes to character development, plot structure, storylines and keeping the focus laser sharp and clean as a whistle. She tells me what's wrong, we'll talk about a way to fix it, and then it's 'Goodbye Gordon - go do those changes!'  So the work remains entirely my own.

That's one way of doing it. Other writers are blessed to have spouses who seem to have a higher calling as script editors. Others are mentored by writer colleagues whom they respect.  Many writers can ONLY write collaboratively for this very reason. 

All the greats have had their mentors. There would have been no Ernest Hemingway without Gertrude Stein. Ezra Pound was the indispensable mentor to no less than three literary giants: TS Eliot, James Joyce and William Butler Yeats.

Whichever path you choose, it's important to find someone who has searing honesty, good instincts, excellent English, a perceptive sensibility and a ruthless dedication to refining the work to its essence and making it the best possible expression of your storytelling craft.

What I am trying to say, is for God's sake don't choose someone who quite clearly doesn't have the critical faculties or mental acumen for the task. Liking you and your work is not a qualification for the job. It may better serve as a disqualification. You want intellectual rigour, not useless sentiment.

My final comment would be a warning. The moment a mentor starts becoming personal or vindictive, it's time to part company. Your joint focus is the work itself, not each other. Leave your egos at the door.