Don't Drink the Screenwriting Kool-Aid | Just Effing Entertain Me

This entry was posted on Monday, August 22nd, 20112011-08-22T18:10:59Zl, F jS, Y at 11:10 am2011-08-22T18:10:59Zg:i a

This morning I came upon this blog post, from The Screenplay Reader blog, about the top five reasons screenwriters quit. And it?s a really good article. You should read it. Except another reason is missing. I?ll get to that in a moment.

Here are their top five reasons:

5. Only writing one script
4. Not building a network
3. Losing focus
2. Distraction by material comforts
1. Not knowing what to do with the finished script.

Do you want to know what the REAL number one is though? It?s because writers think that screenwriting is the only avenue for their writing and when it doesn?t pay off soon enough, they quit. They quit writing entirely. And that breaks my heart.

Here?s the truth: screenwriting is not for everyone. It just isn?t.

1. Because it?s a particular kind of writing; cinematic, kinetic and mathematic
2. Because the validation and approbation for it is close to nil
3. Because the competition is HUGE but the market is the size of a pinhole, relatively speaking.
4. Because screenwriting is, as John August said: ??10% inspiration, 60% perspiration, 20% witty dialogue and 30% being awesome at math.?
5. But he forgot one. Screenwriting is also 28% who you know. See? Not awesome at math
6. And the knowledge of all of the above is depressing and at times, paralyzing

I have talked here on the blog before about the exploding possibilities for writers: short stories, flash fiction, graphic novels, plays, copy writing, fiction, non-fiction, essays, journalism and these are all readily available through these venues: blogging, ebooks, self-publish, publishing houses.

There is a whole cottage industry out there (and I used to be a part of it) encouraging writers to write scripts. Because it?s fun! And glamorous! And easy! (NOT) But slowly, writers and those out there helping writers, whether that?s supplying software, consulting, books, etc. are becoming aware that not only are there other options, many writers will keep writing and write better material if they write for a different venue. To that end, I have seen new software coming out to help with your novel, to help with your play, etc. Are those necessary? Strictly speaking ? of course not ? but as I have always said, if you have the extra cash lying around, sure, why not? It can?t hurt. Just be judicious.

Used to be, in the good old days, that publishing houses had editors who worked closely with writers to ensure the highest quality material possible. So closely that there have been arguments, in the literary world, that writers like Raymond Carver, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Thomas Wolfe (the latter 3 had the same editor, the brilliant, famed Maxwell Perkins) were in fact collaborative writers. No more. Publishing houses, hit hard by the contraction in the economy plus the advent (and huge popularity) of e-books, are struggling to stay afloat. Gone are the big advances, gone is the editing and support, gone is the marketing and publicity money. Authors are expected to turn in manuscripts that are FINITO, as is, all done. More and more, there are free agent story editors out there (such as myself) who jump in, swim out to where you are on your project(s) and help ensure that whatever you are working on (be it a blog, novel, short story, graphic novel, essay, etc.) is at its highest level of expression ? via YOU.

As competitive as ever, writers now need to be responsible for delivering great material, from the get-go. And they need to bring their own platform with them. Which would be their blog. Which is why having an excellent blog alongside your novel, graphic novel, collected essays or plays is a huge boon.

Screenwriting is an excellent, excellent form of writing for so many reasons. If you have been writing scripts and then set out to write a YA novel, as one example, you already have a strong sense of stakes, structure and character arc. You are in fact, better prepared than the other guy, who has not been entrained to make effing entertaining stuff happen as regularly as possible, on every page.

It breaks my heart to think that screenwriters working on a script that just isn?t a script ? maybe it?s a song, a poem, a play or a novel ? put the idea and work away never to return to it. God knows how many poems have never been written because it wasn?t enough, this lyrical idea or thought, to sustain a three-act script.

Screenwriting is fantastic. But the odds of selling your script are infinitesimally small. That shouldn?t stop you but you do need to examine what your goals and needs are, as a writer, before you commit to it.

Screenwriting may be for you if:

1. You are under 40
2. You live in or near Los Angeles or New York
3. You need no validation or approval for your writing
4. You know the odds are terrible and you just don?t care
5. You think in high concept, cinematic ways.
6. You love dialogue more than descriptions
7. You write contained stories

I can hear the hue and cry ? you can be over 40! You don?t have to live in LA! True. But being in those two categories is quite honestly a detriment. It?s not impossible. For every rule there are exceptions.

David Seidler, writer of The King?s Speech was 73 when he won an Academy Award. Amazing. But let?s take a moment to scroll down through his IMDB. The man has been writing produced material since he was 28 years old. He took a big break in there, somewhere, but Seidler put in many, many years of hard work.

If screenwriting is frustrating you, if you keep being told your script is too ?long? too ?epic?, too expensive and not for ?today?s? market. If there are no franchise possibilities, if your story is too ?internal? or derivative, it is possible you have a book on your hands.

Moving away from screenwriting to focus on another avenue for your writing is not quitting, despite a weird culture among screenwriters that it is. It is simply shifting your writing energy to other forms of writing. Of which there are legion. There is no quitting, there is only writing. And if that means writing a blog, or a journal or a cook book ? write. Write because it helps you organize your thoughts and opinions, write because you are curious and have opinions to share. Write because for whatever weird reason, you have the impulse, the desire to do it.

Write for the joy of it and don?t let anybody tell you you are ?quitting? one form or another ? just keep writing.

Here are some resources to keep you WRITING:

The Writer?s Store
Media Bistro
Gotham Writer?s Workshop
Poets & Writers Magazine
UCLA Extension Writer?s Program
Arts & Letters Daily (a plethora of ideas, inspiration)

Source: http://www.justeffing.com/2011/08/22/dont-drink-the-screenwriting-kool-aid/