Recommended Screenwriters
Going For The Dream, Part 2
- December 11, 2010
- Posted by: HalCroasmun
- Category: Articles
In this business, there are four components: Your ideas, your writing, your marketing and your dream. If you excel at all four, you'll make it!
So why aren't more people successful?
I've seen so many people who had talent, great ideas, and even the time to make it, but who managed their dream so poorly that they really never had a chance. That's why I'm addressing this subject.
In Part 1 of this article, I listed seven tips for going for your dream. They are:
- Make sure you have a vision.
- Give yourself the time to make it.
- Constantly monitor your progress.
- Learn from what the best screenwriters do.
- Learn, write, learn, write, etc.
- Take ScreenwritingU.com classes.
- Begin making connections now.
For Part 2, I'd like to add a few more. Any one of these could help solve the big issue in your life. So read them carefully.
H. Write every day…and take one step to move your dream forward.
Do you get something on the page every single day? If you do, then your sense of writing is sharp. Many times, just by writing every day, you are learning and improving…even if it seems like you're not.
If you don't write every day, try this suggestion…
…Write one sentence.
There, if you just do that, you are writing every day. And most days, one sentence will turn into four or five or a page or a scene. All of that starts with the first sentence. Do you agree?
So make a commitment to write at least one sentence each day. Then, once you've written that one sentence, do one of two things:
Either congratulate yourself for writing on that day and I mean really congratulate yourself. Even if you did just that one sentence, you still wrote. So stop feeling guilty, but instead, feel the freedom that comes from keeping your commitment. And just realize that by writing that one sentence, you are training your unconscious to write daily.
OR
Allow your creativity to generate other sentences and continue until you're ready to stop. Then congratulate yourself and feel good about what you've accomplished.
Easy enough?
Now that you're doing that, take one step every day that moves your dream forward. It could be learning a new skill, attending a screenwriting event, brainstorming with another writer, sending out query letters, or any of 50 other small steps that at the end of the year will add up to a whole new level of success.
I. Work from your strengths, improve your weaknesses.
Notice the order here. Too many times when a person is learning a new set of skills, their focus is on their weaknesses and that can be damaging if it is done too much.
When I manage a writer, I often have to remind them of their area of genius. Why? Because they get so immersed in the pain of trying to improve that last 5% needed to become a pro.
Keep your strengths at the front of your mind, even while you are building new skills. You may go as far as putting a small poster on the wall with a list of your strengths.
Why go to all of this effort?
Two reasons: First, so you don't lose sight of your strengths while improving your weaknesses. Second, to keep your spirits up as you continue to learn and improve. Which brings me to our next tip…
J. Maintain your self-esteem.
Okay, I know I have said this many times before, but it is well worth repeating. You are in charge of your self-esteem. You. Nobody else, but you.
Maintaining your self esteem could show up many ways:
- Not beating yourself up for mistakes.
- Rewarding yourself for actions you take.
- Reminding yourself of your good points.
- Tracking your success.
- Doing affirmations.
- Taking actions that make you feel good.
- etc.
Be conscious of how you feel about yourself. If it isn't positive, do something to shift it. That might mean putting on more positive music or maybe it means solving the problem. Whatever it is, take some action to get yourself back into a positive state where you can perform better and feel better.
BTW, there is no law that you have to feel bad for a certain amount of time. In fact, recovery is a key success component. The ability to snap back into peak performance mode is one of the most important components of any top athlete or performer.
There's one more thing you need to know about maintaining your self-esteem and that is…
K. Stay away from negative people.
Make a list of all the people you talk with about screenwriting. Next to their name, write how they make you feel about your screenwriting.
Your list may look like this:
Person A: Encouraged
Person B: Angry about how screenwriters are treated.
Person C: Inferior.
Person D: Like a failure.
Person E: Intrigued about the process.
Person F: Upset that I'm not produced yet.
Then, take that to the next step. List what result is caused in your life. Just fill in the blank with "…, so I…" Like this:
Person A: Encouraged, so I work harder.
Person B: Angry about how screenwriters are treated, so I want to quit screenwriting.
Person C: Inferior, so I try harder.
Person D: Like a failure, so I get depressed.
Person E: Intrigued about the process, so I look deeper for answers.
Person F: Upset that I'm not produced yet, so I feel angry at the process and don't write for weeks sometimes.
So I'd want to hang around Persons A, C, and E. But I'd limit my interactions with Persons B, D, and F. Now, this may seem simplistic, but you'll be surprised what influence people in your life have.
I have one person who continually acknowledges me for already achieving my goals…when I'm only on the first step. She's the type who would say "Wow, this is a great script. You're a professional screenwriter" when I had just completed the outline of my first script. She's just trying to encourage me, but the effect it had was to stop me in my tracks. Essentially, she had caused my unconscious to believe I had already achieved my goals.
Once I realized that, I'd interact with her differently. I'd say "I'd like you to read this draft. Before you read it, I already know I have to do at least 30 things to improve it before I take it out to producers, but I'd like to get your feedback so I can improve it."
Doing that had her respond differently and not unintentionally shut down my creative processes.
If you are aware of the reaction you have to people in your life, you can manage it and have things work better for you and for them.
L. When appropriate, start interacting with Industry people.
What stage are you really at?
You don't want to push yourself on industry people when you don't know what you're doing.
What! Am I crazy? How dare I say such a thing!
Calm down. This really is helpful. But to have it really benefit you, I need to take it to an extreme.
Imagine you are writing a screenplay. You have two characters. One is a producer who has spent 15 years in the business. She works her tail off and is constantly dealing with big issues. Like most producers, she has multi-million dollar projects on her hands and one mistake can kill those projects. Time is in short supply.
Notice the stakes. Now, the second is an amateur screenwriter who hasn't yet taken his first screenwriting class, but he did write a first draft of a story about his first love.
The amateur screenwriter takes a few weeks off from work and contacts the producer. He wants to meet for lunch and ask basic questions about formatting, length of scripts, and when she'll read his first draft and give him notes.
Can you see the conflict brewing? How do you think the producer will react to this poor man who can get that same information in about 100 places? How will she respond to his request to read his first draft when she has too many scripts from CAA and William Morris to read?
Do you think this is good timing on the screenwriter's part? No.
That's why I'm suggesting that you start interacting with industry people AFTER you have a quite a bit of understanding under your belt. Make sense?
Where do you get that understanding? Here's a list:
- These articles.
- Sherwood Oaks events.
- The Screenwriting Expo.
- ScreenwritingU.com classes.
- Any major screenwriting conference with Industry players.
- Books about the screenwriting business.
- Any of 100 or more events per year in Los Angeles.
- Working with mentors/coaches like Marc Zicree.
Any of these (and others I haven't yet mentioned) are excellent ways to gain enough understanding of the business. And the more you understand about the business, the better you'll look to producers.
Finally, the key is to keep managing your dream no matter what happens. That simply means that you pause every day or so and check where you are. Especially during difficult times.
If things are going great, then keep taking action. If there are problems, then solve them. If something is out of whack, try a few of these strategies. It may just get your dream back on track.
Ready to take the next step in becoming a Pro? Join the ProSeries!