Jesse Dean's Lounge Discussions

I feel this way at different times every day, like I am just spinning my wheels. But I can't see myself not writing so I keep on keepin' on. What else can ya do?

Writing can be a lonely and frustrating exercise at times, but I write simply because I have to.

Well said @Doug n Bill. @Lisa Frustration is a feeling we all get from time to time, whether writing one year or twenty years. Let it sweep over you, but not engulf you, changing the mindset to that of a clinging bulldog to your writing. Enthusiasm kills clinging doubts and insecurities. I've just noticed this thread is a year or so old, hope you been writing seven years now?

Have you tried any consultants yet?

I can relate, try having an online platform "scripped.com" accidentally dump all your work you worked on for three+ years and then politely apologies and blame it on them selling out to the next company that bought and changed it up 'writersduet." Anyway it's been two years now and I finally found that I still am in the writersduet.com system so I am starting over. Just finished my western and might sell out on that one to a Indie filmmaker in Australia. thinking about handing it over to him for $1,000 and I keep my name on the credits and can be bought back as script supervisor. Anyway; yes! it is a long slow road that for some does end up nowhere unless you have material people really want and your style is professionally adapted. I am a good screenwriter and nobody can tell me or any of my close critics different. Living in the woods and not in L.A. or N.Y. is one of my biggest problems getting it out there. So here is what I am going to do. I have decided to write a novel after I finish up this romantic comedy I am working on. Also I have decided for here on out I am going Indie with my work and publishing myself now that we have the social networks and bloggers that make it possible. You do not have to rely on the big publishers anymore; that is a dying system and I thank God! Never give up just keep writing no matter what. maybe we will all get noticed when we are dead when they find us lying on mountains of manuscripts in our studies. :P https://www.facebook.com/scriptwriterpro/

No,.. not if you are writing your ten (10) pgs. a day minimum~ [Stephen King- On Writing]. I would personally the most grueling the probably is my re-write and of course all of us writers experience the old writers block from script to script. Yeah, but that re-write “oh boy!” Here is a list of cosmetics for a really great screenplay I usually tend to stick to and most of these sub-categories, on screenplay production are fundamental for expediency as well as persistence in the development of the writer and his work.

Dan Guardino Agreed! I believe the same thing.

Could be. It all depends on the size, the genre and how many rewrites. Also, if you need to do extensive research, you also need to take that in account. For me a first draft of a short usually takes a week and that's about 15 pages. But if you want to be really good, then take all the time you need.

The reason it takes so long for people to write something is that most people don't have a story. Wait, what!? This is how it happens: they start writing and figuring out things as they write it. Then you meander into never-never land going in circles - it's called "stuck in the Second Act" (Syndrome). Why? Because you don't know how to end it! So this is what you need to do before you pick up your pencil, or start pounding on the keyboard - know exactly "how will the story end". Then work backwards, you'll whip out stories/scripts in weeks. As a corollary, if the ending is mediocre or just run of the mill ho-hum, don't write it - change the ending until it's great, then write it. My opinion only, of course; and YMMV :)

If you have a story and know the characters it will take you two weeks. I just wrote my 65 page TV pilot in eight days. I wrote my first feature film 99 pages in two weeks.

Amen to that

I really do need to look into WGA, if only to protect my content. Would you guys recommend producing some shorts first? I have also been thinking about crowd sourcing and doing much of the initial start up ourselves as our own studio/production company. I know this would be a much more difficult process and it would take more time without studio money behind us but luckily (or unluckily) there are a lot of creatives out of work and we could offer them a position on the ground floor where they could grow with the project if they so choose to be a part of the "magic". Is circumventing the established system worth the risk? Media is changing, especially the way it is packaged and distributed, and online outlets will be the future when cable eventually dies it's enviable slow death at the hands of the internet. The are almost innumerable variables. Thoughts? <3 Rob

It's 5% to 10% not twenty. Tvwritersvault.com

I'm British and lean towards writing for the UK market. Many British agents charge 20% if they have to deal with writers like me, resident in the US. So we're both right.

Thanks for the link to TVWritersVault too. I've been thinking about trying that market - it looks very useful.

I've heard that most managers get 15 percent. My good friend got a manager first, so it's probably a good rule of thumb. But, how do you find a manager? I'm an actor and screenwriter, so could a manager cover both career tracks?

Write something that sells. Or write something that is produced and is a hit. Then you won't have to go looking. :0

That all depends Chris... some agencies still will not even look at it unless you are represented on a professional level and standard. You are correct though- your chances are even greater if you are good.

What I meant was that you can get one once you prove you don't need one. :)

So if I have a script with a Producer/Director attached and ready to go they would check me out?

I've been working on one particular screenplay for 2 years. Most of that time it's sat on an external hard drive in a drawer. I figure if I still get excited about it when I read it a few months later, it's probably worth continuing. Putting a screenplay or a novel away for a while helps me be more objective. I do have others, and many outlines that I look at and think "what the &*($ was I thinking? But I never throw them away... I've always found writing very easy, it's the marketing part that's my biggest challenge!

Karen, I have to work on the marketing part as well. When I get ideas for a script, I write it down and just come back to it later. Right now, I'm researching a script that I want to write later this year. I also have two more acts for finish on another. I'm tempted to work on the unfinished one, but if I do that, I'll lose my focus. Have you thought about taking another angle on your script? Maybe a fresh take might get you excited again. It worked for me with one of my scripts (I went through four different versions of the same story).

Hi Sandra, It's completely finished now. While it's ripening on my external hard drive, I try to totally forget about it and brainstorm ideas for others scripts. But I can never work on two at the same time like some people! If my Final Draft is occupied with one then that's all I can handle. I just research and do the card shuffle with the other ideas to see if they'll work.

I try to write as much as I can and not read over it as I go unless it's to check that details match from earlier scenes. I find if I go over and over a script, I zone out on it. The only way to explain it is it's like having a bottle of perfume under your nose for hours. After a while you don't smell the scent, even though it's still there. I put it away for a while and come back to it days or weeks later (unless I'm working on a deadline! Then I have to really try to stay focused as I re-read it but I usually do that after I'm done!)

You don't know how good your script willl every ... sound ... until it's casted. Your cast is the final author and eternal for your audience. Now a good or great script has a little somewhat of how it ... reads ... or sounds to you on any given day.