Take a Hold of Your Destiny

You gotta take hold of your destiny. Family members and friends may look down at you for wanting to pursue your passion. Instead of convincing them to see why your purpose matters, just go silent and start doing some work. They don’t need to know what you are working on.

Mostly all stores and restaurants close early. The pandemic changed business practices, where even fast food restaurants are only operating their drive-thru to minimize customer contact. We can complain nonstop of not having a creative space to partake in screenwriting. I’m done getting angry about what is not working in my life.

I’ve been disappointed with my lack of support. It’s obvious the people in my circle have zero interest in giving me feedback and showing support for what makes me happy. The worst part is that I can barely get on my computer to focus on one particular screenplay. When you are requested to do other things, this disrupts your work flow.

No matter what I have done to give so much to everyone, I can’t receive a fraction of this effort in return. I finally just let go…

I’m committing myself to engage in screenwriting. If we wait for a better time, freedom, creative space or an ideal financial situation, we will never finish anything. Our dream will never come true in this lifetime. Unless you have DP, editing, animation or sound design to contribute to projects, you will be sitting on the sidelines without a script, samples and previous works.

Nobody cares what ideas you have in your mind. The story must be written in a screenplay, formatted and structured to demonstrate your understanding of screenwriting. As much as you communicate in Facebook forums, or talk with everyone you encounter about your dream, you will not move forward unless you take a hold of your destiny yourself.

People don’t care if you can’t pay your bills. They don’t care what degrees you have earned, even if you attended prestigious film schools such as UCLA, USC or NYU. They don’t care if you accomplish your dreams.

If you believe you have plenty of support to live your dream, then you are one of the rare screenwriters. Ask yourself how many people ask about your projects? Do they give you feedback? Are they offering a helping hand without you sharing your projects?

Truth is, people barely ask how you are doing without you contacting them first. It is not up to other people to show support, it is up to you to do the work. Forget celebrating the highlights and getting validation from strangers. Throw that meaningless attention away in the trash. Temporary acknowledgment will sink your production and shift your attention to receive compliments.

I decided to take my screenwriting into my car. Nobody will disrupt my research and writing there. I can listen to any music I choose. Moreover, I won’t be requested to do something else. Screenwriting is already a difficult craft, so the people who contribute the least and critiquing/criticizing/judging the most must be pushed aside.

If you don’t take the serious steps to create, you may as well just quit today. Your frustration and anger will eventually turn into cynicism, negativity and regret. Save yourself future pain and suffering; make immediate adjustments in your daily routines/habits to improve your future outlook.

My luxury SUV is super comfortable. I have plenty of space to stretch out. It is about time that I finally committed myself to do what I am destined to do. There are no excuses! I won’t fake it to make it. While attending college, I completed so many screenplays and didn’t have to seek permission from anyone. When people see me down and out, they enjoy taking jabs at my dream to remind me of past mistakes and bad decisions.

I don’t need my dream to be happy. It is what I choose to do because I am confident in my storytelling abilities. I’ve held a few writing jobs that made me good money. However, I haven’t fully applied all my skills, experience and education to finish a passion project. After reaching the cross-roads once again, and dealing with the inner desire to keep creating, I am now being proactive to just do it.

Commitment is everything! Starting anything is taking a step in the right direction. Don’t worry about perfection, just release your profound stories. You’ll have plenty of time to revise your screenplay. Develop a system that is effective for you. Stop regretting the past, overthinking about the future that hasn’t happened yet. Follow your life purpose and start screenwriting right now!

Happy Screenwriting!

Just Write The Script!

Assertive mood: Stop making excuses to write your script later. If you have real passion for screenwriting, you will begin creating compelling stories that give people escapism. Focus on one creative idea you can expand on right now and just go for it. Plan the process, enjoy the steps. 

There is no guarantee we will see tomorrow. We don't have all the time in the world to keep postponing our dream. Screenwriting is as simple as just starting a script. Don't concentrate on whether your first daft is good or bad. Get out of your head with all those fears of people judging, criticizing and insulting your work and you. Quit thinking it is too hard to make it in Hollywood. You are good enough! 

Having a positive outlook to write at will is better than using positive reinforcement as a reward structure. Empowering our writing to improve this world is better than chasing fame to get attention. Write movies because you believe your dream can inspire others to also do great things. 

Behind the scenes you will be a hero. Just write the script! 

Cobra Kai Season 3 Premiere on January 1, 2021

Netflix's Cobra Kai Season 3 premiered on January 1, 2021. Episode 1 revisited Season 2, Episode 10: The school fight that rocked the Valley. Miguel Diaz still remains in a coma after Robby Keene kicked him off the second floor, causing Cobra Kai's star pupil to sustain a terrible neck injury accompanied with paralysis. Robby is on the run following his direct role in causing Miguel's tragic injury. With their differences and past grudges still intact, Daniel and Johnny go on a mission to locate the troubled teenager on the run before the police find him first. 

Samantha now struggles with PTSD after the controversial school fight that rocked the Valley. Flashbacks of John Kreese's Vietnam tour clearly convey his motivation to start Cobra Kai. John's desire to punish his enemies through showing no mercy is explained in its entirety. Daniel returns back to Tomi Village in Okinawa, the site of The Karate Kid II, to reclaim his lost focus and rekindle past relationships. Season 3 features many unique surprises, further delving into the mysteries pitting the past up against the present.   

Cobra Kai is an extremely well written series that instantly grabbed my attention upon my first initial viewing: I binge-watched Season 1 and Season 2 on Netflix. This former YouTube series has done a great job integrating "The Karate Kid" films into its storyline. There are many personal growth teachings that teach us to evolve, such as the wisdom Miyagi ingrained into Daniel's mind, body and soul. 

There is newfound empathy to understand Johnny Lawrence's character; we see his broken childhood and how karate gave him guidance. The fallout of losing the All-Valley Karate tournament kept Johnny living in the past. His inability to come to terms with the 80's restricts his character arc. Despite protecting his tough guy image, letting his defense down actually helps him become a humble character with moral values.  

Daniel adopted identical character traits that made Johnny unlikeable in The Karate Kid. Clashing with Johnny created conflict in his posh life. His wife reminded him to return back to the man she first met.  For the most part, Daniel's love for karate reconnected him with valuable life lessons. He self-reflects on Mr. Miyagi's teachings, focusing on karate as defense and focus. Concentrating on Miyagi's passion-first advice is what keeps Daniel living a rich life full of blessings. Nevertheless, karate represents Daniel's true calling to make a difference in his community. Perhaps karate is the main reason Daniel is who he is today; it serves as the foundation to his personal, family and business life. 

Binge watching Cobra Kai Season 3 gave me a nostalgic experience: These empowering episodes reconnected me with my childhood. My brothers and I would do karate after watching The Karate Kid movies! Whenever I feel disappointed, I remember the carefree times where I lived in the moment. Living in the moment keeps me in the present, reminding me to not take life so seriously. Life is too short to waste time on regrets, resentments, grudges and failures. We must learn to appreciate who we are, the life we lived and what we can become with hard work, effort and passion. If you want your dream, you are all the support you need. 

Until Cobra Kai Season 4 arrives, stay safe and healthy. Most importantly, keep writing the stories you want to see at the movies. Do it for yourself, not for attention, money and popularity. 

Happy Screenwriting! 

  

Live Your Own Dream

Our dream of becoming an actor, writer, director, singer or an astronaut comes from a strong desire we hold inside--our purpose, our calling, our passion. Whenever we see anything related to our dream, we can find instant excitement and happiness. This dream is our passion, it is our first love. Sometimes people can enter our lives to push us off of our dream path. We may not realize this truth in the present time, but we will be reminded of these moments later on. We can fail to live our dream if we lose focus on why we are trying to achieve it.

Living our dream is supposed to be something special that we should embrace along our life journey. Our dream can be anything we set our mind on and seek to accomplish. Our dream can guide us to helping people to realize their potential. Unresolved issues that go untreated can block our progress.

We may assume every new relationship we enter represents our dream. We can have an internal desire to always be with someone, never being alone, never having space to grow better. There can be that new dream girl, dream guy or dream situations we never experienced before. We get lost in these magical moments; meanwhile, we lose sight of our dream.

Why hasn't our dream come true? Why are we frustrated after rejections? Why do we feel we need our dream to be somebody important? Why do we wake up with low energy? There is a reason why this is happening. Either we are struggling with physical health problems, or ignoring a self-worth/self-value psychological challenge that we haven't confronted yet. Maybe we lack confidence, so we overcompensate with posting videos and images that stimulate our mind to raise our dopamine levels.

Getting positive attention, hiding negative criticism and expecting everyone to accept us are some ways we cope with feeling the constant need to get noticed. We may fake our dream until we make it. We can act like we are working on top secret projects. We may tell our fans to stay tuned. Living a lie to impress people can make us feel empty inside. When the lights turn off, we lose our identity. If being authentic does not matter to us, we can continue acting like we are living our dream. We can continue using app enhancers, applying filters and making small talk about a dream we are struggling to reach. Following this 'make believe' plan will not get us any closer to our dream.

Our fans are smarter that we think. They know whether we are accomplished writers, actors, directors, singers, or YouTube stars. All credentials can be verified online... IMDb is the leading Internet movie database that will show past, current and upcoming projects. This movie website also lists the type of roles, written by and directed by credits. Telling white lies is common in the film industry. If people stick to tricking others, they will never give all the effort, energy and time required to live their dream.

The first step to building a loyal following is honesty. Writing intriguing words and showing beautiful pictures to make people envy our lives, even get jealous, are deceptive and misleading. However, sharing all the real steps (including both positive and negative) to live our dream will attract loyal followers who will take interest in our dream pursuit.

Social media takes up a lot of time. Creating stories and uploading posts... Replying back to comments... Answering questions... Thanking people for their positive comments... This redistributes the time and energy we need to manifest our dream into real life. We may rely on likes and comments to boost our daily moods. It can become mundane taking credit for living a dream we are so far from achieving. Taking a break away from social media can rejuvenate our body and mind. For the most part, human beings are not Terminator machines; they need time to recharge.

Time is against us... We are growing older... Our dream will not wait for us to make serious decisions...                          

We have to take personal responsibility to accept that we are to blame for our mistakes, our lack of opportunities, our lost time, our low energy and our past. Ultimately, we control our own fate. We create our own luck. Embracing our mistakes will show that we value all the lessons learned after experiencing failures. Perhaps, we are taught to empower self-care.

Nevertheless, self-care can be disguised as selfishness to get what we want at all costs--this is the worst path we can follow. When we feel unhappy and depressed for our selfish needs, we do not appreciate the small blessings. We complain, whine, get obsessed, overthink, self-doubt, envy, self-pity, gossip and partake in negative actions that we enjoy or we're oblivious to notice our actions as being toxic. We step on others to get ahead. We take advantage of kind people.

We may forget the contribution that others have to shape our dream, especially after we no longer have any value for them in our current life. Given the time, energy and compassion people share with us, we may disregard this to move on to the net host. We may like to think we did it on our own. Choosing to hide people who meant something in our past reveals our true character. It is a testament of selfishness; only God knows what we did to people. The sad reality: Social media and Hollywood are full of attention seeking, flaky, fickle and pompous people.

With all of the positive attention we receive from everyone, we rarely slow down to see what is happening around us. We don't notice other people's pain and suffering. We fail to change our ways to improve as human beings. We hide behind a false facade to make our fans believe we are someone inspiring, someone motivational, someone talented. We don't do enough self-observing to repair bad habits, instead we keep repeating and keep self-sabotaging to attract temporary attention.

It is highly likely we are spending all of our valuable time, exhausting all of our powerful energy to make another person/other people happy--to make their dream(s) possible. Couples should have their personal time, too. Spending countless hours with our companion will eventually kill the thrill. No matter how much we believe we know about our true love, we really don't know everything. Our significant others can hide the truth like social media: Show what they want everyone to see.

What we view as peace and light can actually be darkness. We can be groomed, be controlled and get manipulated into following another dream plan. Someone we trust can set out on a top secret mission to accomplish their dream. They will take us along on this wild ride to make sure they get what they want most. They need their dream to come true. Deep down inside, they are afraid of their past. They know their actions were immoral. They have something/someone to lose. It is like one of those mystery/thriller movies. When our past returns, we will travel great lengths to silence it. We can lie about people, telling a fabricated story to make ourselves look good and another appear bad.

We are too in love, too invested to investigate. We are stuck in a dream, in a fantasy that is written in the stars. We believe our life is a dream. What we set out to accomplish is not happening yet. We are standing on an artificial stage wooing our online followers. People praise us. They envy us. They think we have an ideal life. They believe we are blessed. They don't know Adam from Eve.

What we fail to see is that people who do not dream big resort to obsessing over others. Boasting, showing off and whatever else we label it as is make believing we are someone important among others. It is our escape from real life to live that fantasy life. We can live in a bubble. Maybe we don't share what we are truly feeling inside with our companion, with our family, with our friends.

The moment we start referring to ourselves by name, we have lost our sense of reality. 'I" becomes our 'first name" as a reference to our imaginary star power. It keeps us believing that we've made it. Truth is, we are not surfing on that California wave that is impressing everyone. We are telling people what they want to hear. We are showing our movie star looks to fit a narrative. However, we are not living our dream the way we imagined it out in our minds numerous times.

Imagine this: What if we could do more to live our dream?

Never disregard the messenger who has no track record. Only stubborn people act condescending to think they know everything. They only listen to people who have succeeded with what they want. Unfortunately, these people get angry, get triggered and feel judged if anyone shares constructive criticism with them. It is their defense mechanism to protect their ego, be prideful and hide insecurities. Confident people listen to advice, tips, and techniques. People with vulnerabilities and insecurities deflect their negativity. We must be prepared to handle the less than glamorous aspects of stardom. We must survive the industry that has left many people broken.

Want to accomplish your Hollywood dream? Take acting classes like A-list actors/actresses do. Listen to acting podcasts. Investigate further into how to live your dream. Think beyond acting and enter writing and producing. If you want to become a screenwriter, read about your favorite screenwriters on blogs and in books. Go to film festivals and meet people with the same interests. Go on meetups to discuss writing, acting, music and business opportunities. Make audition videos to share your acting. Ask for honest advice about your performances. Submit completed scripts into screenwriting competitions. Share your gifts and talents to inspire others. Don't just fake it until you believe you will make it. It does not get any easier wasting more time waiting for a big break.

Respect your dream as well as the people who helped you reach your destination.

Never get offended and take revenge because you feel like you're being judged. If you repeat this behavior, you will restrict your future success. People will always have their personal opinions about you. They may want you to follow their plan. They may want to control your life. They may get jealous of what you have and/or already accomplished. They may gossip about you to feel better. They may 'call you out' to show they care about your life. They may assume your life is perfect. Just know that nobody on this Earth is perfect. We are all imperfect human beings. We can do better to work on ourselves. Confident people never compare themselves to others--they develop a system that works best for their life.

Many men and women fail in the dating world. They may show up to a date with a baggage of problems. They can become desperate, needy and clingy. They believe someone can bring happiness into their unappealing lives. They search for someone who can rescue them from their dark past. They have a clear objective in mind to have children. They need people to see them with an attractive companion to feel valuable. They want to escape someone who has terrorized their life. Sharing negative details with our date is too risky. In our conflicting stories, we may expose problems that comprise another person's core values. If we never take personal responsibility, we will attract enablers who accept us for who we are. Little do they know we're hiding our true self.

Just imagine knowing the truth about everything. You can see right through people. You can know all of their darkest secrets. You can save so much time avoiding toxic people. You will know when someone else is using you to shape their brands. They need you to build their public image.

Your dream cannot afford to lose time. We can replace lost energy but wasting time can/will compromise our dream. Being good looking and/or pretty have a shelf life online. Eventually, people will move on to better things and what dream we wanted to come true will wither away like a tumbleweed in a ghost town. Believe it or not, there is a moment when the window leaves a small crash for us to slip through. We can live our dream. It is not impossible to capture that star that excites us.

Balancing our dream with our daily life is extremely important. There is a life outside of our comfort zone. Don't get caught up in the attention. Don't attach your identity to your dream. Don't put people on pedestals to make them appear heavenly We must think about our future. Compromising matters. Stay humble. Keep moving forward. Value your dream. Even if you never accomplish your dream, learn to love yourself.

Hugh Hefner knew how to live a dream. He was an authentic individual who built an empire on the objectification of beautiful women and their bodies and. Read the following article to follow a dream advice that actually works:

https://www.knowledgeformen.com/hugh-hefner-life-lessons/


I'll leave you guys with these famous quotes to live your dream. If your dream is your first love, respond with serious actions to live it...
 

“All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.” 
— Walt Disney

“At first, dreams seem impossible, then improbable, and eventually inevitable.” 
– Christopher Reeve

“Let’s go invent tomorrow instead of worrying about what happened yesterday.” 
– Steve Jobs

"Life is too short to live someone else's dream." 
– Hugh Hefner 


Happy Screenwriting!

Your dream is what you make of it... How you pursue what you love is your personal choice. If you are recruited into building other people's dreams without knowing their real motivation, you are missing out on moving forward with what truly fulfills you inside--your real purpose in this life. Silent angels do exist on Earth to help guide your dream, love and happiness...

Patience and Perseverance

Thousands of aspiring screenwriters dream of writing the next hot script that is made into a popular movie. There are film industry players and prolific screenwriters who have already taken this journey numerous times. Nevertheless, thousands of writers spend countless hours in screenwriting forums chatting about their current/past stories, popular films they like, creative ideas that excite them, and famous screenwriters they admire. They are motivated to make industry connections, form new friendships and build meaningful relationships. Hundreds of Instagram page owners post content sharing personal script projects, screenwriting contests, potential story ideas and script pages to their personal screenplays. True screenwriters hold passion for creating compelling stories. Patience and perseverance hold the key to making your screenwriting dream a lucrative career.

If we wish our screenplay will eventually be optioned, we are putting our dream on a pedestal. Making Hollywood appear unattainable is giving the film industry way too much credit for our future happiness. It is possible to write a good screenplay capable of winning screenwriting competitions.

Your script can move past gatekeepers to get optioned. Your script can be made into a Netflix movie. Your script can become a blockbuster movie. Visualize what you want and apply yourself to go get it. 

We must believe in our creative adventures. Don't worry about what people think. You are not selfish for desiring to live your dream. If you put forth the effort, you deserve to live a better life.  

Writers have many goals in sight. Looking in the rearview mirror can/will block progress. Discipline, time management and passion will keep your screenwriting dream moving forward. We must keep writing pages, research what studios want/need, listen to podcasts featuring successful screenwriters, study great screenwriters, learn about the business of movies and build our stories into profound movies. When I mention scripts, I mean we must complete several scripts to increase our chances in getting noticed. 

One script can connect us with the right people who want to view our writing portfolio. It's possible this individual, that studio or those group of people may not have interest in optioning our only script. However, our writing talents may attract the attention of industry-connected people. They may ask us what other projects we have stored in our script arsenal. Don't sell yourself short by investing your entire farm into only one script idea, unless you are confident in this story to sacrifice everything.  

This is where your patience and perseverance come into play. No matter what obstacles and challenges stand in your way, you must be confident in your creation(s). Pet projects usually create intense excitement because these stories hit close to home. These projects hold a deeper meaning-- they fulfill our inner desires. They can go back to our childhood, where we enjoyed watching science fiction movies such as E.T. and Star Wars. Emotional connections can take us down memory lane. 

The most powerful filmmakers in Hollywood had to wait their turn. Christopher Nolan directed Memento, Insomnia, Batman Begins, The Prestige and The Dark Knight to earn his chance at making Inception. The Dark Knight Rises, Interstellar, Dunkirk and Tenet followed Inception. Given Nolan's track record, he is one of most successful directors working in Hollywood.  

Good things happen to those who are patient is a flawed saying. It should be good things happen to those who work hard while being patient for opportunities. Staying confident to continue working on your script project(s) hold(s) immense power over your dreams and goals.    

Most of the time, we must prove our value before we take a stab at prized projects. For the most part, we will likely have to pay our dues working on projects with no creative value. Reality television is a perfect example of aspiring filmmakers going to film school and accepting high paying jobs working on uncreative ventures to climb up that industry ladder. Never judge professional work that rewards you with valuable experience. If you get paid to perform your talents, you are moving in the right direction.

Many writers get stuck listening to what writing books tell them to write. They follow Save The Cat, Kate Wright's sequences, A Hero With A Thousand Faces, Story and other books that instruct writers what must happen at what time with careful attention to the author's thoughts and theories. Following this approach turns a screenplay into a cliched piece of unoriginal work. Even though our scripts are fictional pieces of work, we have no obligation to mimic past screenplays. 

The human condition and emotions connect the audience with characters who may have similar traits that resemble theirs. How do people behave in a pre-apocalyptic world? What will people do to protect a secret? What fears block them? What regrets do they have? What is stopping them from talking to their true love? End of the world movies convey real actions of real life people. 

Truth is, we waste too much time living in the past instead of planning for our future. We don't do enough to live our dream. We need constant attention to feel self-worth. We focus on what other people are doing. We stay on the sidelines, being afraid of looking bad in front of people who we don't know. We postpone making decisions to avoid rejection. We obsess over small things that have no impact on the bigger picture.

We let years pass us by without responding to what we want. We allow true love to slip away. We don't take personal responsibility. We blame other peole for our mistakes. We don't show we care about our dream to be taken seriously. We need people to validate us. We envy others for living the dream we think we are better at doing but do nothing to make it happen. We are to blame for our own life. Nobody is responsible for our failures. The moment we can accept personal responsibility, there will be hope for us to achieve greatness. 

If you don’t give your dream any attention, you are guaranteed to fail what you want most in this life. 

Happy Screenwriting! 

        

Remind Yourself With Reminders: Dreams And Goals

We need constant reminders of what we want to accomplish in the future. If we want to become a Hollywood screenwriter, wearing shirts, hats, using notebooks, screensavers and other mementos that convey this message can keep us on track. Of course, we must do the work to achieve our dream.

Reminding yourself using visual reminders can empower you to chase harder. Our dream is within reach. Start doing what you love to do and repeat this action daily. Stay proactive and be a go-getter. Sooner than later your dream will come true. See you on the silver screen! 

Happy Screenwriting! 

Lack of Effort To Build Dreams: Faking It And Never Making It

Some people are quick to share their dreams with perfect strangers. They are not afraid to reveal that they want to become a Hollywood actor, a director, a producer, a screenwriter, a singer, a YouTube star and an Instagram influencer. They can trick their audience into believing they are living the dream life. For some unknown reason, they enjoy getting high off of attention. They feed off of daily compliments to feel happy. They rely on daily engagement to boost their moods. Truth is, some creative artists rarely invest the right amount of effort to live their dreams.

Making excuses, constant complaining, excessive whining, self-doubting, overthinking, self-pitying, obsessing on insecurities, exposing vulnerabilities, lacking confidence, suffering with self-esteem, being self-destructive, self-sabotaging, fixating on problems and failing to confront unresolved issues get far more play time than investing time and energy into living dreams. Getting attention to feel valuable replaces hard work and discipline.

Accomplishing a realistic dream is highly possible... Unfortunately, some people are more excited about receiving attention than making a real difference in this world. They want to be told they are pretty and or handsome. They need people to validate their self worth. They desire success to love who they are in this life. So many dreams are lost to wasting time on social media, day-in, day-out.

Recurring failures somehow disrupt the small steps that grow dreams. Some people rarely take personal responsibility to admit fault after making mistakes: People automatically think their value, identity and worth are put into question. They need reassurance to know they matter.

Confidence is everything. If we focus on the competition, we will get jealous and envy others. Negative emotions can prevent people from living a positive life.

What if we just focus on what resources we need to pursue our dream? We may actually live our dream...

Actors and actresses should consider exercising their acting muscles. Taking acting classes, rehearsing scenes, making acting reels, acting in short films and volunteering for script table readings are positive actions to increase exposure. Having supreme confidence as a movie performer is pulling from the past to collaborate with the future. Do the work behind the scenes to build your acting career.

Directors can watch famous Hollywood directors reveal their tricks of the trade on Master Class. They can practice making storyboards, interpret screenplays and study past films. They can perform assembly actions to rearrange scenes and retell stories. Furthermore, they can work with actors to prepare for future directing jobs.  

Writers can read screenplays, write action-based stories, master dialogue, inject their stories with real life experiences, listen to podcasts, read blogs, write short scripts, work as an uncredited paid writer and collaborate with other writers to receive real feedback and perform script coverage. Writing every day is not enough to become a great writer. There are many steps to evolve as a writer. Conflict and resolution are critical components to write profound screenplays.

Learning the truth is extremely important. However, people are too weak minded to accept the truth. They get offended, feel judged, claim their boundaries are being crossed and even accuse others of controlling them. These people attack the people who care about them. They embrace people who give them fake attention.

As we see on social media, there are toxic people lurking around to shame others. They criticize people who do not fall align with their thoughts and beliefs. The same people return to leave fake compliments and praises. Meanwhile, the page owners are dealing with internal pain that is left untreated. Wasting time on social media is the single biggest factor that will stall dreams. If we want to impress people, we will become obsessed with posting content, making stories, producing likes and receiving comments.

Honing your draft relies on giving effort. Staying disciplined can keep us on the right track to grow our dreams. Doing things that we love to do will make us happy. Infusing our projects with what we know best will retain our focus. We can control our effort to build our dreams...

Happy Screenwriting!

You Only Live Once...

Dreams will never wait for us. If we live our life for a dream, we will miss out on many priceless moments. Don't make everything about your dream... However, take the necessary steps to live your dream. You only live this life once so make every opportunity matter. 

Social Media Quote...

Stop wasting your life away on social media... Find peace living real life because this is the happiest thought we can enjoy every day. Be self-aware that self-care is the best answer to improve your overall life...

Screenwriting dreams locked away by life

Believe it or not, your unaccomplished screenwriting dreams are locked away in a vault, in an undisclosed location waiting to break free. What do you do to find this vault, and then unlock it? It is no simple task to become a screenwriter. But, however, passionate writers are up for this competition. They know what needs to be done in order to deliver their screenwriting dreams to Hollywood. With that idea in play, we can focus on our screenwriting dreams that are locked away by life.

Ever wonder why so many aspiring screenwriters fail to option screenplays that are made into movies shown on the silver screen. It is hard to option a screenplay. The right ingredients must be mixed together to whip up a decent movie. When we say decent, we mean that not all movies are good. Bad movies get optioned, get made, and get produced into real movies. 

Any movie that enters the box office is a success. It doesn't matter if these movies are good or bad. Thousands of screenplays reach Hollywood each year, but only a small fraction of those are optioned. Statistically, a smaller fraction of those are actually made into movies. How do we write what we know and make this interesting to option? 

Look at all the things you've done in life. Jobs you've taken. People you know. Stupid obstacles that make you laugh. Stories told to you. What you see on the street. Listen to at work. What is reported in the news. These premise ideas are there for you to seize, to capture, to make into movies. No more waiting for the perfect screenplay, to make this script right.

Lets look at the startup industry. Why do tech companies continue to search for software engineers? You'd think these startups are represented by top talents in their field. Well, they are stocked up. It never hurts to advertise and find another talented individual to join the team. 

Screenwriting works this way. Hollywood knows there are hundreds of unsolicited scripts stored in computers. These movies can easily make Hollywood millions of dollars in the box office. The problem here is locating these commercial screenplays that have the right ingredients. Diamonds in the rough are hard to come by, so for reason alone the major players are searching long and hard. 

We know your life can be interesting, though not the simple moments where you share a beer and talking about sports. We're talking about those stupid moments where you look up to the sky and yell. These are funny events, funny obstacles that make us life.

We live those real moments. We dislike the odds that are stacked up against us. We complain about our lives. When we watch these scenes at the movies, we can relate to them. We identify with these characters. We empathize with tear-jerking moments. Humanizing characters and telling a creative story are tricks to complete a quality screenplay.

It really sucks that these dumb obstacles put in every road are what hold us back from reaching Hollywood. This material sells. People enjoy watching these events play out on the silver screen. Add an unexpected twist at the end and now you have a dynamic piece of work. Start from the ending and move the story between this beginning to that big end. Interconnect these events with an ensemble cast that have a deep connection and this shows Hollywood you are a great screenwriter. 

You see, you can do it, too. Instead of investing all your time into writing that perfect screenplay, you can search for that screenwriting safe and unlock those ideas, events, experiences, jobs, family reunion disasters, and everything else known as life. Life may hold you back, but it will give you an edge. The scariest of moments, the funnest experiences, and the tough hardships you face, are what makes screenwriting worthwhile. If these scripts are written right, using the best techniques, these screenplays will sell. Screenwriters must write often, write religiously, and write with a mission to option their scripts.  

Think about these scenarios. A coder writes decent codes to make a mediocre website that lacks a theme. However, highly skilled coders write brilliant codes to create a dynamic app like Instagram. A team of coders write basic codes to keep a simple social networking website like Facebook operable. It is because Facebook gives people that 15 minutes of fame every day, that is what keeps this social networking company running. Facebook is the heart, whereas all its companies are outlets to expand their service base. Scroll down the board to see all those people happily sharing their lives.  

People want to tell their life stories. They want attention. They believe their life makes a good book. If this story is told wrong, then it lacks interest. The screenwriters who understand basic script formatting, basic storytelling, and know which events to include, will sell their screenplays in Hollywood. Don't listen to negative people. Locate that safe filled with unique, original ideas, and unlock these scenes, these moments called life. If you can do this, you will win in Hollywood. 

Time and Effort = Screenwriting Success

"Life got in the way of my screenwriting dream"

Are you a screenwriter working toward that Hollywood dream? Still haven't cracked into the movie biz yet? If you answered yes, then you must re-evaluate this screenwriting dream.

Ask yourself these questions. What are you doing that is delaying this professional writing goal? Procrastinating? Fear of success? Focusing on long-term goals? Perfectionist? Financial instability blocking this long-awaited goal? No game plan to dedicate time to writing? No completed script to show the right people? 

We can't keep telling others we want to become a screenwriter. There comes a moment where we must invest time and effort to be taken seriously. This "taken seriously" label has been directed toward me several times. I know I missed opportunities because of my lack of time management, my lack of preparation. I am highly educated. I know how to write and package screenplays. What is my delay? 

We can view my screenwriting dream as a talented builder who has studied and worked hard professionally to complete a masterpiece. Once the right moment arrives to deliver the completed goods, these projects remain unfinished, incompleted, and unconstructed. No display is available to promote this brilliant work of art. Writers may allow a flourishing dream filled with promise to dry up and go empty.  

Screenplays don't write themselves, screenwriters must invest time and energy into completing these movie projects. During my film school days, I wrote screenplays often and usually created excited concepts. Unfortunately, life got in the way and delayed the inevitable. This is the same life that also gave me valuable content to construct stories. 

Many aspiring writers focus on writing unrelated content to survive. Unfortunately, this repeated action blocks their screenwriting dream. On, I kept several completed scripts in my possession. I never sent out these screenplays to movie studios. I took part in a few screenwriting competitions - a collaborated screenwriting contest on an untilted Bourne Identity movie, a short film that got scored a 90 and missed the cut, and the Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting. I passed up on the Disney Writing Fellowship. 

Back in 2012, while moving to Florida, several great concepts got lost in the shuffle. A Houston robbery resulted in many stolen possessions, including my Apple computer with several lost scripts, many ideas, outlines and entire movie plans. Valuable time got wasted. This dream had major potential to materialize because my passion and talent for screenwriting and movies are still riding high. 

If there is no completed script, there is nothing to sell. We'll see where the road takes me. I realized time and effort influenced my screenwriting dream. After graduating film school, I wrote all the wrong content and this stalled out movie projects. It is never too late to reach success. 

Keep screenwriting. Set a schedule. Take your dream seriously. Don't listen to criticism, unless this is honest and constructive. Stay confident. Be consistent. Happy writing!

And remember, write the raw pages to flush out your creativity.

Be Selfish with Your Time

Screenwriters must value their time to write great scripts. Time is of the essence. Don't allow any person to influence your time and block you from accomplishing success as a screenwriter.

Screenwriting is not an easy craft to master. It's not because a writer is not talented enough, is because you must protect yourself from family, friends, co-workers and strangers that use negativity as empowerment to disrupt you. They believe success is based on immediate results, so writing is viewed as a struggling art that lacks substance and profitability. Their first impression of you is that you're dreaming and can't compete against what they believe are highly talented professionals.

Little do these people know that your writing can earn you a good living. People are quick to judge. If you don't drive a fancy car and own a home, you are considered a failure.

Education doesn't matter to these people. Some people have said that college degrees make good toilet paper. It is the mere fact that if you're not earning money and hold a quality education, then this is frowned upon. People form an image of you as being unreliable to search for realistic jobs. They see you as dreamer who doesn't want to wake up to reality.

What if you have already developed a writing portfolio? You've probably written quality projects. While these writing samples are out there, making a name for oneself can actually be compromised. Writers must survive, which is the reason they take money rather than credit. In result, the writer is prevented from showcasing all their past writing work and this may impact their job hunt.

Family, friends, co-workers and strangers can become antagonists that make you feel insecure about your screenwriting goals. These people may represent conflict, obstacles and challenges which resemble structured scenes in screenplays.

Be selfish with your time and don't give your time away so easily. Never let this negativity, this jealousy block your success. Your dream is about your happiness. Think of all the people in the world that can benefit from your stories. Thus, your dream makes many people smile. It makes them ambiguous. It inspires and motivates them to dream like you and everyone else.

You wasting time trying to please others may hurt your chances. It really depends on the attitudes that surround you. If people look down at you, then you are fighting an impossible battle. Screenwriters need to survive in the moment until their scripts are optioned and/or if another writing project arrives that keeps the income streaming in.

For most screenwriters, consistency is never a dependable theme. It's sad to say that money and lack of support kill screenwriting dreams. Those screenwriters who can overcome these major challenges will reach the top. It is true that the odds are against you. They really are. Not for the reason you think with lacking talent, instead this setback is lacking support.

Protect your dream. Utilize time management to treat your screenwriting dream like a job. If you're not a working screenwriter, your screenwriting is primarily your future job and career. Schedule time to write. Don't let people deter you because they will instill fear and doubt in your mind. If you allow this to happen, you don't really want to become a successful screenwriter.

Be selfish with your time. Treat your screenwriting like a job. People don't usually bother others that go to work. They may bother you because they think you're just a writer and nothing is happening in your life. Don't believe this. Everything is happening.

Tell them you have to work. You have projects to complete. In time, your dream of becoming a screenwriter will gain traction and people will watch your work unfold. Just believe in yourself and never falter on fears. Screenwriting is your journey to teach people about real life, real struggles and real dreams.

We are capable of reaching dreams. Our passion and desire rely on time. We have a certain amount of time allotted to this dream before we must move on. Just like movies, we can keep the audience in the movie theater forever. Your time matters most, so don't waste it on people who want to sabotage your dreams, your success, your happiness.

***A good movie to watch about a real-life character experiencing unfortunate events and reaching a dream is The Pursuit of Happyness. Perseverance and persistence are the foundation to prosperity.