What You Make of It
All good things come to those whose actions and beliefs align.
As someone trying to “break in” to screenwriting, I love to read interviews of those screenwriters who either won a prestigious award, been accepted into a coveted fellowship, or who worked their tail off and got staffed or sold a script. I always gain a bit of insight into other people’s processes and enjoy learning about their take on the craft and business of screenwriting. It’s a great way to find mentors to emulate - a key characteristic of Marcus Aurelius’ principles of self-discipline.
Today I read a bit of an interview with one of the winners of the 2020 Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting, Beth Curry. The interview was conducted by Scott Myers on his blog Go Into the Story.
Beth won for her feature drama LEMON. The logline on Coverfly read: When Lemon’s agoraphobic mother dies suddenly, five-year-old Lemon goes outside for the first time in search of her father.
Anything that has to do with parent-child relationships has me hooked immediately. Would love to read this script.
As I read part of her interview, I jotted down some quotes that stuck out to me and my thoughts/reactions.
Writing, at this stage, is purely selfish. I write what I need to write.
This is my mantra for this year. In year’s previous I wrote scripts - that will never see the light of day - that were focused more on trends. In some ways I think I was practicing how to write to market, but the reality if that that doesn’t produce great writing. I think regardless of level, all writing must be selfish. That selfishness produces the energy to sustain you throughout the duration of your writing. In my opinion, if something wasn’t written from a place of selfishness, it’s not worth reading.
I’m not concerned about writing anything commercially or appeasing anyone.
This connects to the previous quote, but I would add that the idea of writing something to appease someone is also a dangerous trap. At times I want everyone who reads my work to love every single word of it. But the reality is that that’s not how any of this works. Some people will love what I write, and others will absolutely hate it. Either way, that’s okay. As long as I’m appeasing myself by writing the script, then that’s all that counts.
Show up even when the critic inside of you is telling you that you’re just writing a bunch of crap.
Yup, this one hit hard. I’m convinced my inner critic is some crazy ass demon from Ancient Rome or something. What I appreciate about Beth sharing this is that we don’t talk about the mental health aspect of being a writer or creative. We see the finished products and the accolades, but we don’t talk about the trials and tribulations that artists have to endure just to finish something. If I ever get to a place in my career where I can guide and mentor emerging writers, this will be a big focus of the support I would provide. I’m convinced many writers stop writing not because they don’t have talent, but because they believe their inner critic more than they believe in themselves.
But I find even in a “bad note” or a note that you don’t think applies, there can be a gem.
The dreaded notes process. Be it from a writer’s group, teacher, network, studio, rep, most writers I know hate the notes process. I don’t think that’s a bad thing. In my experience getting notes that lead to actionable change in a script or story is very rare. Notes require the writer to interpret what the notes actually mean - unless the person giving notes is just telling you their opinions or giving “examples” of how to change something. To me, notes boil down to three categories: 1. Here’s what I liked; 2. Here’s where I was confused; and 3. Here’s what I wonder.
I think trusting your inner storyteller and your instinct is what will fuel your storytelling.
Learning how to trust myself is a big focus area for me this year. Similar to the mental health component, trusting yourself is a skill that I think needs to be discussed and coached more. Too many times we chalk “trust” up to either you have it or you don’t. That’s bullshit. It’s a learned skill that anyone can be taught. The trick, I think, is to teach writers and other creatives to know the difference between trusting yourself and seeking validation. I know I conflate the two at times and believe that I need someone’s positive take on my material to build my trust. It’s hard to ask someone to trust you with a multi-million dollar budget in you when you don’t trust yourself.
What I start out with a story, I really start with, “What am I working through or what theme am I telling here?” I make sure that that is in every scene that I’m writing, that it is somehow touched upon.
Huge take. In my opinion theme and/or thematic question is what drives people to read and react to your material. It’s something that I consciously think about in the planning stages of a script. And it’s super helpful to re-read your script through the lens of your thematic question/statement. My trouble is that my thematic question/statement gets lost in the B or C stories and/or the thematic question/statement isn’t clear enough. From a craft perspective, I’m working on a new script and every choice I make in the planning stage is filter through the thematic question I writing towards.
I really got a lot out of Beth’s interview. As I mentioned above, reading another artist’s take on the craft and business is both inspiring and educational. Hopefully one day I’ll be interviewed about my scripts/stories and inspire someone else hoping to break in.
Today’s Accomplishments
Wrote this blog post.
Re-read and marked up THE NOISE WITHIN script. I received an email from Final Draft Big Break contest saying that a very large management/production company would like to read my script. I have a few days to revise it and send it over. Wish me luck!
Tomorrow’s Tasks
Review THE NOISE WITHIN. That’s my main goal. I would love to do a complete page 1 rewrite, but I don’t have the time. Hopefully I can get this script into better shape.
Write my review/previous post on my blog.
Today’s Story Worthy Moment
This one is actually taken from yesterday - January 15.
At the start of class I posted Marcus Aurelius’ quote about how our thoughts shape how we see the world. The exact quote is, “The Universe is change; our life is what are thoughts make it.”
My students and I had a great discussion about how change is a constant in life and how we think about that change affects how we live and react to it.
One student asked if the quote meant that our thoughts can change the world around us. Tricky question for sure, and I think it’s a common misconception that many self-help gurus pander to the masses.
I explained to students that it’s not an observation about manifesting something from just a single thought. But it’s about aligning your thoughts with your actions. It’s really easy to say one thing but do the exact opposite. That guarantees maintaining the status quo. But in order to make change happen - and change being a constant in our world - we have to practice the self-discipline of making sure what we believe and want is in accordance with our actions.
If I wanted to lose weight I would start with a vision for what my end goal would look and feel life. Then I would adopt a mindset of belief that that vision was attainable. Lastly, I would build a routine around a set of habits that would support that belief system and that would help me lose weight. Vision plus belief plus actions equals change.
My students understood the difference and went about the rest of class writing a letter to their future self about how successful they’ll be this semester.
As for me, later that day I received an email from Final Draft saying a large management/production company would like to read my script, THE NOISE WITHIN. The irony of the moment came true. Last year I thought about this management company and how an idea I had would be a perfect fit for them. My belief turned to action and I wrote the script. Sure, I didn’t submit the script the company, but somehow, someway through divine interaction they saw my logline and want to read it.
Admittedly, I would love for something to happen - a meeting at the very least. But I know this business is all about ups and downs.
At the very least I know that aligning my thoughts and actions will yield the results and success I seek.
