Screenwriting : Sitting in the dust, staring at the mountain. by Desiree Middleton

Don't panic! And you're doing great, is usually what I tell myself despite staring at a blank screen, random notes scattered across my desk and ideas, new and old alike, bouncing around in my head. Oh and take deep deep breathes. Good luck.

Thank you Steven.

If I wanted easy, I should be doing word searches.

I just like to write so I don't think about climbing a mountain or falling down.

If it was easy, everyone would be doing it. Hang on, everyone is doing it. Let me rephrase, if it was easy, everyone would be successful.

I change gears to another project then come back to it after a rest. I don't like to force the writing if it's not flowing on a particular idea. But if you find yourself facing a deadline, perhaps something to put you into the space of what you're writing about. I find music is a fantastic tool for me.

@Claude. Yes we are compelled to continue to write. @Dan I work 11 hours a day at my day job. I want to be in the position where screenwriting and novel writing are my only day job. Paying day job. @John that's a depressing thought. Unless I had a series of pulleys and wenches (network), helping meg the rock up the hill.

Sometimes it's not words...It's just remembering that feeling when you have traction. Screenwriting is never a straight climb. And we sometimes learn more from the slide than we do from the climb.

I agree with RB. There have been times when I hit a serious case of writer's block and thought a project was over only to find that one change or piece of inspiration to make it into something I didn't see coming. If I hadn't "slid" down the mountain, it would have turned out completely different. And building back on my previous comment about music and combining it with RB's about feeling: What feeling are you trying to convey in what you're writing in a particular scene you're stuck on? What piece of music puts you in that feeling? Try playing that in the background or on some headphones.

Love that advice, Ana.

+++ I like to draw...I sketched particular scenes when I felt like I was losing traction. One type of creative process usually spurs other types of creative processes - that's scientifically documented. +++ Taking acting classes/working with actors/directing actors was a great benefit to my writing...one of the most important benefits I've gained as a writer...and helped me to get out of "writer's mode" into "character mode." I think that really can help a writer. In my early writing days, I used to get into that type of "tunnel vision" as "the writer"....if that makes any sense....and not be able to be "the character" as well as I can now. That might not make sense to some writers....hope it makes sense to you. "Being the character" brings me closer to the story than being this writer guy who is looking at a piece of paper or a wallboard while trying to write action or dialogue. It brought me more "into the story" as the characters...and made the stories better, at least in my opinion. +++ Having a great outline/beat sheet that expresses character emotions/changes/effects is a great way for me to avoid getting stuck. I mainly approach every beat from the viewpoint of the effects of the actions on the characters involved. That gives me a lot of choices throughout each scene. My earlier stories were like...."and then this happens....and then this happens...and then blah, blah, blah." I later learned how wrong and limiting that was, at least for me. I guess being in a situation without time constraints on the writing helps a lot, now that I look back on everything that I've written above. I take my time with thinking/outlining/writing/re-writing...the entire creative process.....that works best for me. Good luck and Happy Writing/Climbing, Desiree!

The mountain for me is selling a screenplay. I don't get writer's block and I've never been accused of being grounded in reality so character, plot, and world building come natural to me. I think unicorns are real and that we have yet to discover aliens on other worlds. It's why I write sci fi and fantasy. It's the back and forth of pitching and sending and maybe and no. Rinse repeat. Rinse repeat. What motivates you to keep trying to climb the "paid screenwriter" mountain?

Let's be honest here... Who really wants "easy?" Not me! Easy is ordinary. Easy is common. When I think of your MOUNTAIN I'm reminded of the MANY, many tough humps/hikes with a gargantuan pack in the Marines. There were so many times I said to myself, "self... this would almost be enjoyable if I didn't have this 80lb rucksack on my back." The reality was that I couldn't shed that burden and have to adapt and overcome, period. So... look at your mountain and realize that it's a must that you will carry some uncomfortable baggage with you on this climb, however, you do have the ability to pack light. Remember: you don't have to agree with something to accept it. Zig-zag that route to the top! Conserve your energy and allow for deviation by eliminating your time stamp on completion. Happy climbing, Desiree. Remember, that view from the top is much more rewarding than staring at the picture of it!

I've never thought that selling a SP was the goal. I always think that telling a great story is the goal, and if it is great, it will sell. Greatness isn't achieved easily or quickly. Do the work and let the accolades come to you.

Oh....THAT mountain. Heh-heh.

Desiree God loves a trier....there will always be bad days...days and months where there is no light of hope emerging...but will come...at your lowest ebb when you feel all is lost and want to throw in the towel...God will give you that pick me up. So don't give up your inner desire as good things always happen to good people :) like you

Desiree, its the climb that motivates. Plateaus (dust) are necessary to rejuvenate. I believe its all a part of the journey...ENJOY, regardless of appearance. Gather (document) along the trail then create what has been imparted.

70% of WGA writers are unemployed. There are thousands of great paper un-produced scripts in storage containers all over Hollywood and the rest of world. God isn't gonna help you get past an email query to a Rep or win Nicholls contest. Great storytelling will. Learn how to write. Then learn Show Business. Business of exchanging words for $$$$, a job. Every unemployed WGA writer thinks the next script is gonna be THE script.

Great comment Stephen. Thank you for the reminder Dilip. Dan you'd be amazed at what God can do!

Yes Linda, it is a journey.

Thanks Aray.

Like when you discover the plot you've been developing for the last six weeks... is coming out in a movie next month, almost beat for beat, with another similar film in development after that? I guess you give thanks that you didn't discover it six months in, pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and plunge into the excitement and potential of your next, new idea. That, for me, is key. Keep plugging away at selling what you've got. But keep going with your new stuff, too. Life has a way of circling back around right where you need it to be, at the moment you least expect it. That's why there are so many overnight success stories, after 25 years. And know that you're not alone. Good luck.

Great thread! Much of the advice here is stuff that I do as well - most often, I remind myself why I love doing this by watching or reading things that inspire me (shows, books, scripts). One danger of being a screenwriter is the tunnel vision we sometimes get, that keeps us from realizing we're not alone on this "climb". Your favorite writers made the same climb. Your writer friends here on Stage 32 and around the world are making it too. Remember you're not alone, and remember to recharge your creative batteries with the things that you love.

Thanks Joe. I'll keep plugging away on my new stuff. Matt I definitely need a recharge. Thanks for the reminder about tunnel vision.

Don't give up! I would just go out and read new material more inspiration.

@RB I found my get back up song "Fighter" by Christina Aguilera.

Well everyone's mountain is different, or there's no mountain at all. Perhaps it's really ourselves we're battling, our will. Tackling one goal at a time and moving on to the next may be a better approach. Small steps. Work your way through. And tunnel vision can also be a good thing. You focus on your goals, avoid distractions and ignore naysayers. Being visionary sometimes means going against the grain. So perhaps go around the mountain. Take a different path. But whatever you do, just keep going. ;)

@Claude @Beth I'm on my lunch break. Pondering the responses. I've decided my mountain needs either a stick of strategically placed dynamite, or a highly-advanced alien weapon that can convert the molecule of the mountain into a gaseous state. I'm going for the latter.

...and the beat goes on, Desiree!!

Thanks @Claude. Thank you @Linda.

I go back and re-read one of my earlier works. The comparison between where I was and where I am now gives me the inspiration to move on. Or I read a book or novel that inspires me to reach down deep and pull out a new idea that desires to be shaped into a story worthy of being a screenplay. As Jedi Master Yoda would say, "There is no try, there is only do or do not do."