William Goldman was pretty spot on with this astute observation of Hollywood. "Nobody knows anything."

Like any industry that requires human capital — or to be more dramatic since we are talking storytelling — like any industry that feeds on metaphorical blood, sweat, and tears, the spec screenwriting business has been through booms and busts. Ups and downs. Just google “Shane Black 1990s’’ to get some specific historical context for what the spec business has looked like over the years.

As much as the world changes — and for our sake as much as Hollywood endures seismic shifts whether it was the disruption of the talkies or the upcoming possible multiple guild strikes — Hollywood needs content. Why? Because humans crave entertainment.

Cave dwellers in prehistoric times loved to share their exciting hunting and gathering adventures around the campfire. Maybe the hero’s journey wasn’t as rigidly applied to their tales of heartbreak and love and bravery and heroism, but these primitive storytellers knew what their audience wanted. Emotion, excitement, engagement. Let's call this what it is - escapism.

The world is a scary place and has always been since, well, forever. The world we live in today makes it inescapable for us to hide from bad news. The tentacles of the interweb and news cycles and social media in our daily existence make it impossible to hide from the world.

Write Your Spec.

One thing I tell clients is that, as uncertain and as challenging as a career in “Hollywood” is, you do have control. Writing. Creating. No one is stopping you from creating. Sure, the demands and distractions of daily life are the hurdles and obstacles in your own hero’s journey but so long as there is a universal desire for escapism, there will be audiences who want content.

And so studios and streamers will always seek new material (IP, spec scripts, etc) to feed their pipeline of content. And this means producers will always be reading scripts. Election cycles, economic recessions, and geopolitical strife come and go. You do not have absolute control over those events. What you do control is your ability to create.

Write Your Spec.

So now, let's cut to the chase and address the question you’re asking. Will my spec sell?

Ask William Goldman. There is no formula for what sells and what doesn’t. Much more often than not an original spec does not sell. For any number of reasons. Maybe the producer or buyer or financier has something too similar already in development. Maybe the company is shifting its focus toward IP-driven stuff. Maybe the producer didn’t “respond” to the theme or characters in your script. Whatever.

But if you’re actually being read by a producer, then your career needle might move even if they pass on your script for the simple and hopefully obvious reason that someone is reading your script. This means you might have a new fan. You might have a new advocate. Someone to champion your work. This is vital to a career in Hollywood. Fans.

You need fans of your work at every step of your storytelling journey. And the only way to find fans is for them to fall in love with your writing. Your voice. Even if the script “isn’t what we are looking for these days.” Again, passes from producers come in all shapes, sizes, and reasons but producers do love to be surprised by fresh, new voices.

Write Your Spec.

Selling original specs is not easy. A spec is just that— speculative. The simple fact is producers are not as focused on finding new specs. They already have their company projects that demand their attention. They owe you nothing. But here is the wonderful reality of this industry that never changes — producers are always excited to read fresh voices. And therein lies the reason why you must write your spec. Someone might fall in love with your writing. And that is when opportunity knocks.

Seriously, ask yourself this question instead— Why do I write? If your answer is some variation of “I can’t help it” or “I love stories,” then you have lots in common with your ancestral cave dwellers. You want to entertain. Why? Because you like to be entertained by stories as well. And that applies to producers and executives and agents and managers. We love to be wowed during a reading experience.

So take the pressure off yourself in terms of whether you want to change the world or whether your spec will win the spec lottery and instead focus on telling an amazing story to turn others on to your voice. Give yourself a shot.

Who knows what might happen. Nobody knows anything.

Write your spec.

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