It’s easy to become overwhelmed as an up and coming screenwriter. You see where you want to be. You’re hopefully doing the research and honing your craft to get there. But you also see that the odds are stacked against you — and the competition is plenty.
Here are some ways you can embrace where you are right now in your screenwriting journey, and understand that where you are right now is exactly where you are meant to be.
1. Embrace the Screenwriting Learning Process
It takes time. Every supposed “overnight success” you’ve read about with envy (and, naturally, sometimes jealousy) was likely the culmination of ten years of learning, failure, struggle, frustration, and defeat.
The trades and media don’t often go into those elements of a screenwriter’s journey because the overnight success headline is far, far more appealing. They won’t talk about the years of film school, the years of independent study, the years of evolving as a writer, the years of struggling to get screenplays read, the years of getting scripts read but never bought, the years of working lackluster jobs to make contacts and get industry experience, the years of having to work non-industry jobs to pay the bills, etc.
Becoming a screenwriter is a process that entails years of learning from your mistakes and triumphs. It’s not an easy venture by any means. Even when you evolve into a talented screenwriter with some great writing samples, it can take years to connect with the Hollywood decision-makers.
The best directors, producers, actors, and screenwriters in the world right now — and the thousands of celebrated icons that came before them — struggled for years before they started to see their Hollywood dreams come true.
- They all had to pay their dues.
- They all had to learn their craft
- They all had to wait until the stars aligned.
Embrace your learning process. Don’t focus on the inevitable struggles, rejection, and failure. Instead, focus on what you can learn from each of them. What can you learn from:
- Every bad note
- Every bad script critique
- Every rejection email or call
- Every dead end you hit
- Every potential lead that didn’t pan out
- Every major step forward that ended up not leading anywhere
Be excited and proud that you’re actually on the journey, searching for a way to make your dream come true. There are millions of people out there that never had the courage or chance to do so. But here you are right now, knowing that you’ll never have to ponder the question, “I wonder what would have happened had I ever pursued that dream?”
You’re on that journey. And the learning process is key to getting closer and closer to that screenwriting dream. You’re exactly where you need to be.
2. Embrace the Success of Finishing a Script
Whether it’s your first, third, or fifth script, embrace the success of finishing a screenplay.
Movies are tiny miracles. It takes upwards of hundreds of people to make a movie — good or bad. But that doesn’t happen without a script. Directors, casts, and crews get to start with the script. No script, no movie. They have the benefit of having a blueprint for the cinematic story they are tasked with bringing to life.
You, the screenwriter, start with a spark of an idea. That’s it.
So when you finish a script, embrace the success of that accomplishment. Too many undiscovered screenwriters equate the success of a screenplay to:
- Winning a major screenwriting contest, competition, or fellowship
- Getting an agent or manager with it
- Optioning it
- Selling it
- Seeing it produced
- Using it as a writing sample to successfully get a paid writing assignment contract
Your screenplay isn’t a failure because you didn’t accomplish one or all of those things with it. Your screenplay is a success because you actually finished it! This is something that many, many people attempt but never follow through on.
So, whether it’s your first, third, fifth, or tenth script, embrace where you are right now, having finished any script at all.
3. Embrace Contest, Competition, or Fellowship Placements
Any victory is a victory, whether it be winning it all, or placing in the quarterfinals, sections, or finals. Many people — even successful pro screenwriters — balk at contest placements or wins.
Embrace where you are right now with any of them because that means you did enough for at least one person (one reader) to advance your script to the next round.
That’s all you need in Hollywood — to find that one person that believes in your script enough to take it to the next level. So even if the contest win or placement doesn’t go anywhere (right now), know that you did your job for at least one reader. You’re doing something right. Now do your best and learn from any possible mistakes or missteps you may have made. Opt in for any script coverage or notes the contest may offer.
4. Embrace Getting Representation — and the Wait That Follows
If you’ve managed to get an agent or manager, congratulations. But know that this doesn’t mean it’s easy sailing to a script sale. You just have someone in your corner that can get your script read and considered by decision makers.
You’ll now be getting on multiple meet-and-greet calls. You may be invited to meetings. Your script(s) will be submitted to many prospects.
But always hope for the best and prepare for the worst. A majority of the time, the leads don’t go anywhere. It’s hard to get a project going these days. It happens all of the time, yes. Let that give you ongoing hope because it has to happen to somebody. But, at the same time, you’ll find yourself going through a lot of ups and downs.
Don’t let that discourage you. You’re exactly where thousands of other screenwriters would love to be — represented with a connected someone in your corner getting your work out there.
5. Embrace Any Screenwriting Success You Achieve
No single meeting will guarantee you ongoing success. Nor will any single screenplay option, paid writing assignment, script sale, or produced credit.
Any success you have will lead to more work. If you option or sell a script, it will likely lead to rewrites where you’ll have to apply specific notes that you may or may not agree with. The same is true for any writing assignment you are contracted to take on. You’ll go through draft after draft most of the time. And sometimes that work can lead to a script that is lost to development hell — or sometimes you may be replaced.
You may also have the amazing experience of selling a script (or being hired to write one) and seeing it produced and distributed.
Maybe it’s amazing and you get all of the kudos you deserve. Maybe it’s a disaster and didn’t turn out how you’d like.
These are all the experiences of every single professional screenwriter. Success can also lead to heartbreak or indifference. We often have our heads in the clouds as we imagine how success can happen. We see Ben Affleck and Matt Damon winning an Oscar for their first screenplay, and we see that as true success.
While it is great to shoot for the stars and hope for the ultimate culmination of your dream, be ready for the heartbreak, struggle, and frustration that can come with any success.
But you always need to remember that any success is a step forward towards your dream. Embrace every success, even if it leads to something less than you had hoped for or were promised.
You’re always in the learning process. You’re always evolving. And you always need to be embracing each and every failure, rejection, deadend, win, signed contract, produced credit, etc.
You, Right Now, Are Exactly Where You Are Meant to Be
Don’t be overwhelmed. Don’t be overly disappointed by any rejection, failure, or outright silence from the industry. Take a deep and steady breath. Anytime you face adversity or bad news, it’s perfectly understandable to need to process that defeat.
When things like that happen, take 24 hours to be mad or sad or to wallow. Those emotions need to be processed and felt.
But then, wake up 24 hours later, stretch, take a deep breath, and smile knowing that you’re exactly where you are meant to be in your screenwriting journey.