I had accepted my Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. I nailed my acceptance speech...it played out exactly as I had planned. And then, yes, I then woke up. Within all of our journeys, I am sure there exists a thread of consistency in writing. We are the one our friends/spouses go to when a greeting card needs a message. Something in the office needs an elaborate touch. We toss on our capes and come to the rescue.
Not quite a month ago, having never written a screenplay, I gave it a shot. I completed 185 page feature length drama in just over two weeks. I edited it down to 165. Still fat, likely incomprehensible and probably a flop at the box office, at least I have something...and instead of doing the day-in-day-out at the office, just watching TV or wasting time playing a video game...I HAVE SOMETHING; and damn it, I created it. It is strange to be proud yet feel incompetent and stuck. However, I wanted to share my observations in the first month of writing.
1. You can spend thousands on software, editing, representation, access, "pro" versions.....just chill.
2. Everyone....literally every YouTube video of an accomplished writer has a different style. Yours will be yours. Trying to follow someone else's method seems counterproductive...unless your method is, in fact, counterproductive.
3. I have headaches and trouble sleeping. I am haunted with new ideas all the time. Prequels to movies I love.....new ideas based on life experiences. If I stop writing I feel like I've paused a movie and I HAVE to see how it continues.
4. When I am not writing I feel like the time drags on. An hour feels like a decade.
5. Everyone else seems incredibly talented, the successful writers, Gods.
6. I feel alone (one of the reasons I joined S32). I have so much to share, talk about, collaborate on. My friends and family think I'm just "on that writing fling".
7. Last, going off the "along" thing. Now that I have written something, which I am sure you all have felt. There is a huge "wah wah wah.....(tuba sound)" let down and feeling of "well, now what?".
Thank you for allowing me to "vent"! I'm off to write another. . . the only thing I can think to do at this point.
Cheers
Dallas:
First off, congratulations on writing your first screenplay. It's a wonderful accomplishment that you should celebrate. When you finish doing your happy dance, you may wish to consider this advice:
When I posted my second screenplay online, which was an adaption of my novel, a number of other writers advised me to whittle down my 165 pages to 120 pages or less. I'm advising you now to do the same. It's a real uphill battle to get readers to consider anything that exceeds two hours of screen time or approximately 120 pages. The editing process starts with evaluating every scene of your baby, whether well-written or not, and eliminating anything that isn't essential to moving the story forward. Or as I like to say, non-value-added.
I liked your seven observations.
Here's a list of observations I wrote about the craft several years ago:
14 THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT WRITING SCRIPTS
1. Screenwriting isn't for you if you're a delicate, sensitive woodland creature.
2. Don't tell anyone, this is my first script. But don't think you'll set the world on fire by writing one screenplay.
3. Learn to suck up constant rejection and never spend more than a few hours wallowing in rejection or failure. With each setback, learn how to sally forth with renewed vigor.
4. The best cure for rejection is writing, especially if it's better writing.
5. Sometimes a script just sucks. Every writer thinks they have an excellent idea for a story. But, more often than not, they're wrong.
6. Sometimes a script just sucks, no matter how many times you rewrite it. Therefore, don't attach yourself to any one effort too much. It may take writing twenty scripts before finding something that resonates with readers.
7. If you see writing scripts as a path to riches and fame, you may wish to consider other options.
8. There ain't no such thing as writer's block. There are only writers that write and ones that don't. Look at Bukowski. Drunk or sober, he did solid work every day of his life.
9. Writers who build relationships, maintain their humility and help their colleagues will do better than ones who don't.
10. If you keep losing script contests, write better scripts until you win one.
11. Read books, take classes, seminars, and sound advice about screenwriting and then march to your own creative drummer. If I listened to every person who told me I couldn't do something, I'd never accomplish anything.
12. Don't write something because you think it will have commercial appeal. Instead, write something you believe in.
13. Don't worry about what everyone else is doing. Instead, endeavor to be an original.
14. Don't ever rest on your laurels or laurel leaves. Keep writing until it becomes second nature to you. And, you can produce even under adverse or stressful conditions. You may one day have a job that presents you with just that set of requirements.
LOVE it. Thank you for passing these 14 on to me. Every one of them applies. Thanks Phillip E. Hardy, "The Pro From Dover"
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Dallas: Awesome! Best of luck and I love that you're so pumped about your writing.
Hi Dallas, thank you for sharing your methodology and experience of writing, like, "this is your destiny" and no matter what, you're going to keep going. Also, you have a keen self-awareness, I can't wait to follow your screenwriting journey! What have you found most inspiring on Stage32 to keep you motivated?
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Thank you Shellie Schmals . I think the success of others is inspiring - and a glint of hope that maybe...just maybe I might be capable of the same.
I like your dream better than the one I had the other night...Jason Voorhees was hunting a small group of people and unfortunately that included me. Much like in the films, he worked his way through everyone until I was the only one left. Punching him several times in the hockey mask didn't achieve much (go figure), he had me in his clutches and I had the feeling he was about to set me on fire when I woke up. Haven't watched a Friday the 13th film in ages, yet me reffing it in a script I was working on recently seemed enough to unleash him...never underestimate the power of writing!
You are in a rare club. Everyone has an idea. About 10% of those people start to write and only about 10% of them finish. So welcome to the 1%.
The only advice I have. Is keep writing. So when a door opens you have plenty to carry through it.
It is a solitary pursuit. But it effects many when we are done. I love it. And love talking about it. You are 100% correct. Since it is a solitary pursuit, everyone does it differently as they are suit themselves and only themselves.
I relate to this in a very real way. Thanks for venting!
Way way way long ago and very far away, I received a letter informing me that our little live action short was on the short list and I was invited to the gala awards event. I couldn't attend but my Director could and did. Surprise, surprise it won and he took the statue, which belonged to all of us, home for safe keeping. When he passed on a few years back; the statue came to me where it now stands, all dusty and forlorn in a dark cubby-hole in a book case - mocking me to do it again. And yes I promise to do it again or die, witch ever comes first. It's nice to feel motivated.
Well, Dan...I'm divorced and have had serious addictions, so I must be in the right lounge! Thank you all for the comments.