Screenwriting : Discouragement by Curtis Miles

You can look at it as being equal to fantasy or greater than your dream. If you want to be greater than your dream you put one foot in front of the other and keep going. As they say, "If you're going through hell, don't stop. Keep going and you'll get out!"

I never heard that before. Thanks for sharing. Despite how I feel about my own work, how do I determine whether or not I actually should keep pursuing this? I mean... have you ever put a lot of time and effort into something that you love doing, but find out you're just not good at it, and a lot of people around you feel you're just wasting your time?

It's called "self doubt", and I'm sure most of us go through this. It comes down to you and your frame of mind. If you have taken the time to truly know how to tell a story, and know your structures, and can write something that keeps you interested, and wanting to write more and more than you can be confident that there are others out there that will be moved, excited to hear your story. As for those around you who feel you're wasting your time. F'em ... you keep your eye on the 8 ball, the goal line, and the final fade out on each script. Get feedback from other writers whom actually know how to read and provide notes. You learn everyday. Write often. Write well.

You're right. I may not be great at it, but if I keep following what I know and the concept works, maybe there's a chance. I don't know. I need to write, so I'm going to keep writing either way. I may as well continue and focus on writing well. Thanks, Lindbergh. I really appreciate it.

Getting out of my head and into something seriously fun and soulful! Listening to music, Old School Quad Skating with friends, and Dancing Salsa with my man all fit the bill. Making sure to step away from the workload/keyboard and get into nature for awhile is also key. In a word "balance" and healthy pressure-release valves :) Here are my two go-to tunes when I need to get lost in music.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcsROpDLpW4

And on the cathartic and spiritually uplifting side - to process and release self-doubt :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIaT8Jl2zpI

- Enjoy and keep your head up, Curtis!

Looking back at my successes makes me feel better. I try to see each failure as a chance to do better next time. Plus not every person likes every genre, you just have to find someone that likes your style of writing.

What helps me? The knowledge that I am trying to better myself - Daily

You all are amazing. I never felt so much love and support. I'm very happy I found this community. Thank you, everyone. This has all been helpful. Seriously.

btw - RB just did a great post on HOW TO KEEP MOTIVATED, or something similar sounding. It's worth a listen.

Honestly, sometimes you feel like all you are doing is hitting brick walls, especially in the world of writing. It's easy to lose focus. You're not alone. During my collage years, I met an Australian producer, and after talking to me, he fell in love with my writing. Everything was rough, of course. He liked me so much he personally trained me as a screenwriter, and got me a great agent, and like a whirlwind I had contracts flying at my desk and I thought all of my dreams were gonna come true. Then bam... Literally everything fell through. My agent got cancer, the studios interested in my projects decided to not go forward, and my producer friend decided to pursue the music industry. Needless to say, it hurt. I was really discouraged. I was lost. I ended up getting a "day job" and did very well with it. Next thing I know it's 13 years later. Life happens, and that life can be cruel sometimes, but never give up on your dreams. This race we run is a marathon, not a short sprint. You take each hurdle that comes your way and more importantly you keep your eye on the prize. Starting last year, I began to dig out my old scripts (my eyes, they BURN!) and started to write again. My next step, and as to what led me here, is to find a new agent. In short, we've all been there. Count your losses and get back at it. Never give up... never surrender. :)

I look at the things I have done and realise only I could have done that. Others may have done better or different. But only I could have done that.

Plus I realise that the bad times will pass just as a good times must end.

This may sound egotistical, but when I'm feeling discouraged, I remind myself that I'm a talented writer. It's the one thing I have that I can really say that I'm good at, and it makes me feel better about things. So when I feel like I'm going nowhere and that it's all pointless, I think about all the people who've loved my work in the past and tell myself, "You can do this. Your audience is right there. Keep working!"

Joshua Roberts Time to cue up Corey Hart's song "Never Surrender." Brad Paisley says, "Tomorrow is the first blank page of a 365 page book. Write a good one."

As far as work/life stress: write a list of things you're grateful for and realize things could probably be much worse.

As far as writing: I don't know how much you've written, but I like to go back and read old stuff. I can see clearly how much I've progressed. It's that incremental progression that always got me to keep going.

Chin up.

The only thing that separates the amateur from the professional: the professional KEEPS GOING, despite the self-doubt, rejection and fear, until they have accomplished their goal and ultimately succeed... KEEP GOING <3

Count your blessings. Go out do something random and nice for a stranger. Show gratitude for what you do have and those times that knock you, they'll pass over and won't effect you as much or for so long. All moments pass. Good and bad. Nothing stays as it is. Stay gold Ponyboy.

Karen Stark Love that last line of "Stay gold Ponyboy" - it's used in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty after he gets off the boat and rushes to the bicycle.

I like driving and singing at the top of my lungs... Often the best part is when I realize driver next to me is watching... Preferred song in a bad mood? Safety Dance

I step away from writing discussion/lounges and clear my head. It can get very noisy and sometimes discouraging. But the one thing that keeps me going is believing in myself.

Immersing myself in a forest or coastal hideaway and enjoying the art of just being, relaxing at a beachside cafe with my notebook and pen, writing about whatever, jumping on the back of my partner's motorbike and enjoying the exhilarating freedom of our nearby country roads.

A lot of great advice here. Today has been a much better day and I'm happy knowing there are so many good people out there providing such sincere encouragement. All is good.

Feeling discouraged is a feeling, that can come fleetingly but it need not become the reality. Usually stems from tiredness with me and then I know I need to rest my mind. A respite from “Thinking”. Turn off lap top, phone etc and chill. Best to physically and mentally chill Eg Swimming or Making dinner for friends. However just could be the simple action of a cat nap. With regards the writing on the page, a favourite expression of mine is “Turn, Burn, Rinse, Repeat”. Think its CJ’s invention from Stage 32. Battles have been mentioned in this thread. There is an expression I hear in industry “Give up the battles and pick the hill you want to die on.” I do NOT abide this ethos however, and I’m a bit of a bulldog at not letting go if in a dispute. But in general CHILL in adversity. Courage will always return!

I battle with this all the time, thanks for posting. If writing is indeed going to be our thing, I think of the line: "I know you're sad, but you still need to tie your shoes".

Brian that film stole it ( probably ironically known Stiller ) It's from a book by S E Hinton called THE OUTSIDERS which was adapted to film and directed by Francis Ford Coppola in the 1980s. It was probably the original brat pack movie starring just about everyone. Tom Cruise, Matt Dillon, C Thomas Howell, Patrick Swayze this list goes on.

Nothing Gold Can Stay is a poem by Robert Frost, which appears in the film...

Natures first green is gold,

Her hardest hue to hold,

Her early leaf's a flower,

But only so a hour,

Then leaf subsides to leaf,

So Eden sank to grief,

So dawn goes down today,

Nothing gold can stay

It's about how things don't last so you have to appreciate them when they are here. The line " stay gold Pony Boy " is a line in the book/film. Pony Boy digs sunsets and Johnny says " stay gold Pony Boy"

Karen Stark Ah yes, I read the The Outsiders in 8th grade - fuzzy memories from junior high school are creeping back... and the movie too.

Do it for Johnny!

When it comes to writing stress, whether it's critical feedback or losing a competition, I would say take a day or two. Let yourself come down from it all, let the emotions run their course. Once you're past that stage, start by reading through the feedback and looking at your script with total honesty. See what could be written better, what can stay, how a scene could be improved, etc. I did that with my screenplay. The first sentence of the first feedback I got said, "This poorly written screenplay is an overblown exercise in absurdity". So, I went over it with a fine-toothed comb, started rewriting and overhauling it. The next feedback I got when I was done was a PASS on the screenplay, but a CONSIDER on the writer.

Take some time before you start hammering away and remember: like writing a perfect screenplay, it takes a long time and a lot of effort for a master swordsmith to make a perfect katana. Keep writing, friend.

My dog, Ein, a corgi (yes, Cowboy Beebop). He's fantastic. He likes to sleep above my head and I find it reassuring to reach above my head and give him a little scritch a couple of times a night. When I am away on travel, sleep is more challenging. That aside, the knowledge that while we experience time in a linear fashion, time itself is non-linear-meaning the answers to what plague us have already happened, we just haven't experienced them yet. Those two things failing, a nice glass of Cab can do wonders too.

Interesting @Cheryl what you say about “Time”. I researched the concept of time for one of my projects. Time is the only thing no scientist can ever control. There is a Yorkshire saying “The Wheel of Time Grinds Slow, But When It Grinds It Grinds.”