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!

Focus on yourself to grow your screenwriting career

Screenwriting is all about you. You represent the one person who can make a screenplay really good. 

Focus on yourself. Grow as a writer. Find your writing voice. Notice your value. Don't be desperate. Don't chase unless this is happening in your script. 

Be confident to write and pitch. Know your characters, plot and theme. Compare your script to past projects.

If we focus on all aspects of filmmaking, we will be better equipped to navigate through the film industry. Focusing on helping others to get what you want can take away valuable time from your dream. 

Guiding people to find success is a good thing; however, there are some people with immoral intentions to take advantage. When their dream becomes more important than yours, you will delay your success. 

Don't lose time and energy on the wrong people. Protect your dream. Nobody will love your dream as much as you love it.  

Prepare yourself to be more than just a screenwriter. Screenwriters should think like producers. 

Remember to write the raw pages to flush out your creativity. 

Every page is money in the Bank

I connected with another screenwriter, who is on the verge of optioning his series to a cable network. Because this writer was under an NDA, he couldn't share the name of the project and this cable network involved in the potential deal. That's cool, I understand that he must abide by the legal terms set aside in this contract. This cool writer shared a really awesome moddo to follow.

Several times during this conservation, this writer reiterated that we all must keep finishing pages because every page is money in the bank. I really like this phrase. The mindset of this writer explores how he attaches value to his writing, especially since many writers focus too much on developing multiple ideas rather than complete movie scripts in their entirety. 

It is all about finishing writing projects, instead of devoting endless days and nights discussing screenwriting and television writing on forums and never working toward a finished script. One completed spec script holds more value than several working scripts stuck in the First Act. 

It is true. Every completed page is money in the bank. Whereas ideas are a dime a dozen, completed screenplays have a shot at potentially selling if the execution of this writing and the storyline capture the essence of their intended purpose - whether the concept is highly commercial and/or this original spec script is salable under a popular genre. This screenplay may represent an artistic montage of the screenwriter's brainchild, their creative expression that is ready to divulge top secret ideas into an all-out silver screen mission to capture moviegoers.  

Write script pages to build value into an overall movie project. Writing outweighs talking. Talkers are not walkers. Writers are movers. They move every scene forward, closer to a completion. 

Indeed, every completed page is money in the bank. When the final page of this script is completed, now the writer has something to discuss with the right people. They can revise this script, as well. 

Keep writing. Focus on the main goal. Finish the script. Then, option this script to put money in the bank. 

Start scenes with a problem and develop a resolution

The best writing techniques are switching traditional scenes up to start with down moments. We start with a major problem, but through intervention we resolve it. Think of your screenwriting as a counseling session, a form of therapy to rehabilitate this character.

In the beginning of a scene, a character shares a problem that causes a disaster. The character receiving this bad news will start a fight. We see this in cheating movies. We see this in the American Dream movies such as Pursuit of Happyness (ultimate struggle), Rocky(sports dream), American Beauty (good example of losing the dream), and Forrest Gump (dream through the ages). Life is hard, but if you stay persistent you will achieve the American dream.  

Write this way. Open scenes with conflict. Use reversals to solve problems. Open with a problem and leave with a solution. Make this scene a call to action. Try to change this character, detour them from their routine. But aside from their need to change, the character refuses to listen because they want to achieve the dream and nobody understands their fire and desire. 

This writing trick is psychology. People will understand these scenes, that is because they live their life this way, everyday. Millions of students are moving back home. Jobs are not hiring. Their degrees are temporarily rendered worthless. Until these characters can sustain theirs struggles and learn from them, they won't take the required steps to sought after change. They believe the world is looking down at them, criticizing their challenges and hardship. Whereas, these people should be looking up to reach the stars. God is giving them signs to make adjustments. 

Start scenes with conflict. Make this conflict unbearable to write. Live in the scenes. Become a fixture in your stories. Write with a purpose. Make problems so severe you stave off intervention. Writing is special because you create the real world through make-believe encounters. Life follows this paradigm. People digest these scenes, these stories. 

The next time you write a scene, think about opening with a major problem. Make the characters react in what you think is believable. Your audience will catch on and enjoy these real moments. Happy writing!