perseverance

I seek rewatchability

Maximum Z analysis, appreciation, Back to the Future, characters, determination, feedback, genre, goals, Gregory Peck, inspiration, perseverance, Raiders of the Lost Ark, rewrite, screenwriting, script, Some Like It Hot, Star Wars, story, storytelling, The Magnificent Seven, To Kill A Mockingbird, writing, writing group
Never gets old. Never.
Never gets old. Never.

It goes without saying that any screenwriter is a movie buff. We have to be. It’s our love of movies that got us into this in the first place.

We’ve all got our favorites. Countless genres are spanned. Writers, directors or performers we can usually rely on for solid, quality work. Who hasn’t claimed to have seen a particular movie “over a hundred times”?

So what is it about them that makes us have no problem with watching them over and over, as opposed to seeing something once and being done with it, or maybe even abandoning ship around the halfway point?

A favorite film motivates repeat viewings. You’re enjoying the whole experience so much that when it’s over, you’re already looking forward to seeing it again.

Consider the films in your home collection. What is it about them that made you go so far as to want to own them?

For as much as I talk about STAR WARS, RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK and BACK TO THE FUTURE, all of which I could watch over and over, I’m also perfectly content with something that doesn’t involve special effects, like TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN or SOME LIKE IT HOT.

What do all of these have in common? For me, it all boils down to fantastic storytelling with well-crafted three-dimensional characters, both of which also motivate and inspire me to be a better writer.

Which is what it all comes down to. The writing, which starts with us.

Not only are we striving to create a story, but we want to make them so amazing that they’re practically irresistible not only to the people who make the movies, but the movie-going public.

While working on that latest project, we imagine what the finished product would look like on the big screen and hope the audience is having such a blast watching it that they’ll want to come back for more.

But imagining is one thing. Actually making it compelling and involving is another.

We must continuously write, rewrite, hone and polish each individual piece of work to make it as involving and engaging as possible.

Not sure if yours is? Ask somebody. Writing group, trusted colleague, paid analyst. Doesn’t matter. Always be striving for greatness, my friends.

Our work is definitely cut out for us.  It’s hard enough to write a good script. It’s even harder to write one people want to continuously return to.

The second half is all uphill

Maximum Z determination, encouragement, goals, half-marathons, perseverance, protagonist, running, screenwriting, script, structure, writing
The first and last time I do a race like that. Maybe.
The first and last time I do a race like that. Maybe.

A few weeks ago, I did a half-marathon that was easily the hardest I’d ever done. The distance wasn’t the hard part – it was that most of it involved going up and down a small mountain. Radical inclines, steep dropoffs right next to the path, the whole shebang.

Sure, some of it was extremely daunting, and sometimes I had to walk, but I was determined to keep pushing until I crossed the finish line (2:22:26, which wasn’t too bad, especially taking that whole mountain aspect into consideration).

The whole time during that first half, as I was working my way up, there were two thoughts that kept me going:

1. Even though this is harder than I expected, I want to keep going and do the best I can
2. Once the halfway point is reached, it’s literally all downhill from here

While the first thought can easily be applied to writing a script, the second one – not so much.

There’s a reason the midpoint of a script is sometimes referred to as The Point of No Return. Not only is your protagonist now fully committed to achieving their goal, but so are you.

While their situation becomes more daunting and their goal more unreachable, it might feel just as insurmountable to you.  But, as I once again utilize the running analogy, your diligent training and extensive preparation have made you ready to take this on.

You know what has to happen between here and the end. The stakes are raised, and only you can ensure a satisfying finish. All you can do is dig deep, draw on your reserve strength and keep pushing yourself until you’re done.

Make sure you pace yourself and take your time. Rushing can only hurt you, so stay focused.  It may seem like the end will never arrive, but you’ll get there before you know it.

What’s great about finishing a race is you get a medal, and most likely the desire to do better next time. Finish a script and you’ve got a finished draft and hopefully the desire to make it better.

The re-battening-down of hatches

Maximum Z anxiety, confidence, determination, motivation, perseverance, screenwriting, script, self-confidence, story, stress, writing
Hang on. Rough seas ahead!
Rough seas ahead, ride out the storm and other nautical phrases

While I work on cranking out pages, a steady bombardment of updates about other writers continues to flow in.

This person won a contest. That person had x number of downloads on the Black List. Somebody sold a script. Somebody else optioned one.

There are times it can get a little discouraging, but then I remind myself every one of these success stories did not involve the recipients just being handed something.

They had to work, slave and toil away, and that success was earned.

So, as has happened many times before, I sigh, think “Someday it’ll be me,” and get back to work.

We all know this is an extremely tough business to break into, accompanied by an overabundance of heartbreak and disappointment.

But we endure, continuously striving to improve and write something that will not only impress, but go so far as to really knock off anybody’s proverbial pair of socks.

And as we spend the seemingly countless hours making that script as bulletproof as possible, we all need to remember one extremely important thing:  Everybody who has succeeded has been in exactly the same position you and I are in right now.

Success is out there. It all depends on how much effort we’re willing to put in to find it.