Monday, June 3, 2013

Writing is like getting your heart stomped on

So you finally see your career taking off. You get to the point where producers want meetings with you. They want to read pages of things you're working on. You're allowed on the set, without being chased off! It's happening! And it's all so exciting. Only the problem is, it's scary too! You're finally where you've always dreamed you'd be. But once you're there, your dreams are on the line. It's no longer just dreaming. It's seeing your dreams happen and possibly be even better than you ever imagined!

It's enough to make your skin crawl and make your heart feel like it's going to jump out of your chest! But it makes sense. Being a writer means you have a passion for what you do. And passion comes from your heart. So your heart is involved and pulled and tugged. And the things you create, are from your imagination. They are your babies, as we've heard many times. So if someone is going to critique our baby? Oh my god, look out! That's going to hurt. So that's why when you're seeing your dreams come true in this career, you can feel so vulnerable. Because it's as if you're like hi, here's my heart, now take it, stomp on it, rip it apart, pour acid in it, and then give it back so I can walk around with this battered thing. Ugh!

I can feel it with the script I'm working on now with the producer I only dreamed of working with. And he's actually calling me back on a more frequent basis. For the longest time it felt like I had to remind him, hi, I'm still here, we're still working on this right? Now he actually has the time, and he's actually waiting for pages. But as I'm sending them, it's as if I were sending my kid on an overnight trip for a week! And believe me, I haven't even done that!

So what's a writer to do? Well, first thing, breathe. If you've got the attention of a producer, no matter what caliber, you're doing something right. So remember that! Then, remember, they want to make this film, they are looking to make something wonderful. And if they are placing their trust in you, it's because you showed them some sort of talent. Then, unless you had your cousin Sue write your script and you put your name on it, you obviously know how to write a script. Remember that! You know how to do this! You are in this place because you're supposed to be!

Even as I'm writing my script for this producer, I just keep telling myself, I'm just doing what I've been doing all these years. It's really no different. The only difference is that I care more what he thinks. But I can't let that psyche me out. I just do what I know how to do. And what I love to do! No more, no less. If I psyche myself out, I'll fail. So breathe, and write. And exercise! That always takes the stress off of me. And before long, you just may see your best script yet. With a producer who can actually get it made! Voila! Imagine that.

Sunday, June 2, 2013

Why screenwriting is like Minecraft

So, maybe you do or don't know what Minecraft is. But it's a video game where you create things in a video world. So for instance, my 9 year old plays, and when he does, he has to build things like homes, or dig for gold or diamonds, and search in buildings for boxes that hold things he can use to protect himself against bad guys. That's the quick description of the game.

So what does this have to do with screenwriting? Well, I was watching him play yesterday and it donned on me, wow, he's really come a long way. Because the first day he played, he dug the earth and fell through the universe and his character died. It took him awhile, but eventually he got the hang of digging and not dying. And now he's really good at it. So yesterday I noticed that he learned how to find new lands and grab certain tools in one land and then use them in other lands so that he could collect things for even more lands. He's developed skills that have benefited him in this video game. So now he's not dying as easily and he's really created this whole video game world.

And it donned on me, isn't this what our screenwriting careers have been? At first, we might have presented pages in our first screenwriting class and our pages might have bombed when we read them out loud. It seemed painful and like we "died" right away when we let the class hear our pages. Then perhaps we took more classes, read more books, learned that taking a scene class or a dialogue class could actually make our script stronger. So that the next time we read pages, people actually liked what we wrote. And then that lead to a new writing group that was stronger. Which lead to doing better in writing contests. Which leads to meetings and getting managers. It doesn't happen over night. It takes learning the lay of the land, how to navigate the world.

So even though it might not happen as quickly as one would like, it does happen. And before we know it, we're gathering tools to help us survive in this crazy business called show. I wouldn't tell my son to give up as he's being chased by bad guys in the Minecraft world, or looking for tools. Nor should we give up as writers. Each tool and skill we develop helps us get further and further in our careers and craft. And as we move forward, we just become better adept and stronger to survive even longer, for new battles we might come up against. And hopefully, maybe one day, we have created the world we always dreamed of.