Screenwriting : Why do Screenwriters Fail? by Imo Wimana Chadband

They write poor quality work and refuse to learn. Eventually they find something else to do with their time.

everyone fails. this is a professional league. A- List Actors work with A-List Directors work with A-List Writers and so on. The 1% percent work consistently.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t make a good living writing Average. There are many talent levels and pay scales making movies. If you really want to this as a livelihood, you will find a way to do it.

Each person is different, and I would not take a guess as to why any one screenwriter or screenplay "fails." And when I say "screenwriter", I'm referring to highly competent writers whose work is top-quality, and not lower-level writers who aren't really quite at that level yet.

I will say that drawing interest/optioning/selling a script/being contracted to write a script requires being in the right place at the right time with the right type of story that somebody wants a piece of - or at least is interested in that writer's skills due to reading that writer's work. So in that sense, it's more about the right alignments and right fits.

Having said that...many great screenplays were rejected repeatedly, Pulp Fiction, The Exorcist, E.T., Dumb and Dumber, Star Wars, Back to the Future, Twilight, Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Usual Suspects, The Blind Side...Being John Malkovich..etc...etc. The list is probably longer than William Goldman's Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid script (186 pages) - who, by the way, also wrote a lot of screenplays that never sold, either. And he was William Goldman! Heh-heh.

Best fortunes in your creative endeavors, Imo!

Excellent point, Bill. It should also be said that many of the greatest films simply would not be made today, based on the current criteria. And that is a real shame. BUT, I do have hope, since things tend to be cyclical.

...So it just may be time to steer the ship back to the vast ocean of unpredictable yet classic story telling, and away from the perceived safety of the remake and sequel docks.

I mean, as good as some reboots have been, just how many Spidey tales can be weaved before viewers feel trapped in a never-ending web to nowhere? Okay, maybe that wasn't the best example. But ya' know what I mean. :)

Thanks, Jean.

Just to add another view from the other side of the Rejection Pond.....a producer I know has made films with all of the major studios over the last few decades. She's top-shelf A-list, and many of her high-budget/big-budget films' pitches were rejected many, many times within the industry - "boatloads of times" are her exact words. Many of the rejections were for films that later became successful elsewhere. Some of her successful pitches ended up dying in development or languished in turnarounds, and were never produced. Sometimes private financiers changed their minds and went in other directions.

My point is: Rejection is a big part of the industry for every role type - producers, directors, actors, writers, crew people, composers, studio execs etc. For every "yes" there are usually many "no's," and sometimes for many years for any given story or project. Understanding and accepting that, and learning how to cope is the best way to keep moving forward. Chocolate-raspberry truffles help, too.

Best fortunes to you in your creative endeavors, Jean and Imo!

depends how you define fail - do you mean you dont get a six figure deal and your script becomes massive blockbuster? Is failure the same as rejection? Is failure only being a finalist consistently in comps? Is it only getting a handful of small indie or lower budgets made?

I think people fail as writers by treating the art as a hobby and not showing it the respect it needs and taking it seriously. (not to say you cant have a "real job" too, but you know what I mean.) Failure also is not finishing and only making starts. Have self inflated view of themselves or how "easy" it's gonna be to succeed as a writer. Lack of tenacity and perseverance in an industry full of rejection and leanings. But ultimately, if you write a bad screenplay (and I mean as in outside of subjectivity - a real genuine bad) then this will always lead to a failure - no amount of networking, comps and query letters will save you.

If you write a ripper script in any genre or budget then you have succeeded. Any failures will be external to this - not enough query letters(bad letter), not putting in the hard work in terms of networking, going to events, entering competitions, stuffing up a pitch, missing opportunities, etc.

People fail because they give up.

Van Gogh sold one painting during his lifetime. He painted over 900 pieces. Define failure.

To add, did Van Gogh die a failure in his own mind? Did he ever think " no wait I'm not selling I'm a failure I'll just quit ". Or was his desire to paint beyond commercial. Writers must have the desire to write regardless of financial success.

Peter Gabriel once said that persistence is often more important than mere talent. It's my stubbornness not to quit that's propelled me to over 30 published books. Doesn't mean they're any good... but I have no regrets because for 25 years, I've gotten to be creative on a daily basis... regardless of the tough times I've endured for letting go of my engineering career. Although yesterday, I did get offered to teach engineering; yet am I trying to tell the world I'm a writer/musician or an engineer... just like The Secret - put into the world what you want to manifest... then like Dan said, Don't give up.

Agreed with Dan Guardino , this industry is not a sprint but a marathon. They either give up, thinking they will never make it or they simply don't do the work. Being a screenwriter is not about writing a script now and then, it's an every day process and about working on your craft every day to improve it.

Maybe Van Gogh did think he was a failure, was frustrated, but (I think) he never thought of quiting because painting was the love of his life...

Karen: That's a myth that still is repeated, but it's documented that Van Gogh sold more than one painting. And he also did private portraits that nobody knows what happened to, and that probably didn't survive in those private homes during World War II.

I think it's pretty safe to say that Van Gogh felt that he was a failure during his lifetime. The letters to his brother suggest that as well, as does his suicide, as do the recollections of gallery owners and other artists. The bitter irony is that after his suicide, he finally become commercially popular. Ouch.

Rutger: he kept churning out nearly a painting a day in his last years. That's pretty amazing. He was struggling with ending his life for a long time. That last day must have been one very emotional day for him (Stage32 understatement of the week).

You're probably not too far from the Van Gogh museum. I've been there once. I personally like his darker paintings more than his bright ones. He sure was a great painter.

Eid Mubarak Imo! :) I would argue that the the only 'failure' is the one you don't learn from. And I think it is good to remember that a "no" is not a failure. Most aspiring screenwriters quit out of frustration and the thought of rejection as "failure" as opposed to seeing rejection as a learning experience and developing their craft.

The truth is that many stories start out lackluster with bad writing - even from those we would consider prolific screenwriters. Writing is like any skill, some have natural ability and some do not. But regardless, every serious writer needs to 1) constantly write (literary every day) and 2) create opportunities for their work to be seen.

Most screenwriters have trouble breaking in because they don’t have a track record and they can’t get a track record because they can’t sell a screenplay. That really is a catch 22 we all face when starting out. One thing I did to counter that was to attach a couple of well-known directors to a few of my screenplays so I could use their name and movie credits to help make my screenplays more valuable and therefor more marketable.

Bill I'm sorry you don't get my point. I guess my mind set differs from yours. Which I'm whole heartedly glad about. Right or wrong painting was his love and his painting was his therapy. I take that away not the fact he killed himself.

Bill and Karen, the short I will make about Van Gogh with a French team will will be in festivals very, very soon!

Vincent van Gogh was no failure. What he was? A man ahead of his time and a prolific artist. He was also dealing with serious issues that were not his fault and not of his choosing—illnesses unknown, misunderstood, and mistreated at the time. It’s sad and unfair how his life is often misunderstood and misused for comparison or for argument sake. His “suicide” is questioned. He may have been killed accidentally. A group of teenage hooligans, known to carry a gun, enjoyed getting drunk and bullying the tortured artist. Suicide was never in any of the reports of his death, only that he may have “wounded himself.” Plus his behavior at the time does not fit suicide; he was very upbeat, had just placed a large order for paint, and left no suicide note. Anyway, it’s an interesting and plausible possibility, not to mention controversial. What would be a great short or film would be to explore these possibilities then just the usual unfair assumptions. The truth is we’ll probably never know the whole truth about his life and death or what Vincent truly went through or why he made the choices that he did. Thank goodness he wrote all those letters to his brother.

"At Eternity's Gate" - check it out. Biopic starring Willem Dafoe as V Gogh

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnAV30z8xBE

About “failure”... seems a judgement imposed by others. What you choose to do with your goals and passions in life is yours to determine. “Failure” can also be an opportunity to learn and grow.

Karen and Beth: I carefully worded my statement "there's no doubt that Van Gogh felt that he was a failure during his lifetime." All you have to do is read his letters to his brother Theo (over 600 of them) to confirm that. You can read the letters - with notes, translations and even sketches - at vangoghletters.org

He was extremely bipolar and dysphoric and many of his letters, according to his brother were "incomprehensible." He disappeared for days at a time. He struggled with his social isolation; with his financial dependence on his brother; with his personal failures with women, friends and his family; and with his professional failures as an artist during his lifetime.

After he shot himself (there is nothing that suggests someone else did it), his last words to his brother were "The sadness will last forever," and then he closed his eyes and died a minute later. And it's very common for someone in that state - a long-term state - to try to continue and fight on (like he did by ordering supplies shortly before his death) and then to turn around and end his/her life. And without leaving a suicide note. The majority of suicide victims don't leave a note.

I love Vincent Van Gogh's work, and will always admire his accomplishments and impacts on the art world. It's tragic that he didn't get to celebrate success while he was alive, and that he had to endure the commercial failures while he was battling and coping with all of his other struggles and sadnesses. And I am by no means knocking him or anyone else. I know what it's like to be a struggling artist - and in many ways - too.

Best fortunes to you both in your creative endeavors, Karen and Beth!

Thanks, Dan M. Honestly, I hadn’t looked at that latest film too closely because I’m so tired of the usual treatment of van Gogh, although I love love love Willem Defoe. Happy to read that they depict the plausible shooting. Anyhoo, sorry, everyone, I don’t mean to hijack this thread. Carry on!

This evening I attended a talk/dinner with engineers from India, and we discussed the 30,000 failures of Tommy Edison... the take-with, he found 30,000 solutions that don't work in order to arrive at one that did - light bulb moments.

Sorry... this will be my last comment... Bill, there is much that suggests otherwise (inconsistent wound, no gun, his actions that day, his missing easel, etc). There has always been questions surrounding the shooting. Speculation. Happy to see it explored. Again, it’s interesting. There’s a lot of false myths about the “mad” artist too. Speculation of exactly what Vincent suffered from. Epilepsy is a strong possibility. I’ve heard several different diagnoses of mental disorders. We may never know the full truth. Records are lost. He was mistreated and sensationalized by people and supposed friends. And doctors of the time could not correctly diagnose because they were limited and unaware of certain illnesses. Lots of speculation around Gauguin as well: artistic genius or syphilitic pedophile? He was both... as evident by his art. Many (history books, films, etc) choose to ignore the latter. Anyhoo, best to you as well. ;)

Having read Irving Stone's "Lust for Life" regarding V Van Gogh, maybe it was too much absinthe. That stuff distilled into wormwood casks is to be sipped lightly... smells like paint thinner. Death by misadventure?

My family and I once had our picture painted by Van Gogh. Nice guy when you get to know him.

Glad to see the "cognizati" comments about Van Gogh. There was definitely much more to the story than meets the eye (or ear).

Absinthe seems the likely culprit, since it contains thujone - which is known for its psychoactive effects.

I could be in complete denial, because I don't want to think of his prolonged and unrelenting suffering, but as a long time advocate for the mentally, I just don't see him as having a chronic "thought disorder" (like schizophrenia) or "mood disorder" (like bipolar) - his paintings are far too ordered for either, in my opinion.

...Said as I stare at my copy of Café Terrace on the Place du Forum, not far from his Sunflowers still life.

Because they chose screenwriting as a career. If you just do it because you love doing it then you will never quit and if you never quit you can't fail.

Similar to Dan G.'s last remark, Neal Peart of Rush said, "If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.."

Along the lines of absinthe, when I've witnessed people in 9-5 jobs quit or retire, many of them struggle with what to do 24-7-365 after their typical structure and daily routine are removed. Many of them turn to booze - daily - because that's an awful lot of free time they now have to learn to fill.

The daily structure needs to be replaced with something because habit is only replaced by habit.

Van Gogh was no different. I'm sure there were days he had to fill where the mojo of his muse wasn't workin', and he didn't feel like painting. What do you do then? Quit???

Or perhaps go to a pub, be around people (because people need people or the walls close in), try to refill his well of creativity, and sometimes get too soused in the process and then go into black-out mode where he didn't remember what he did the night before (like perhaps cut off an ear).

Factor in the psychotropic effects of those wormwood absinthe casks and it might have been a recipe for disaster. Like Bruce Lee's autopsy ruled, "Death by Misadventure"

Just ask yourself, how do you fill 24-7 without some kind of somethin'-somethin' to take the edge off when you don't have a traditional job to fill the time?