Fear can help or hurt your Screenwriting

Feeling that screenwriting is an impossible discipline? Know there is something wrong, and it is not writer's block? Fear is the answer to you possibly delaying your next and/or first project? 

When we were little kids, we lived life without any fears. We may gotten scolded, grounded, spanked and put down for making mistakes, but we continued being kids. As we grow older, we have it ingrained in our brain that we shouldn't do certain things. This pertains to dreams, as most people believe they are unattainable. 

Fear is a powerful force within us. If we believe we can't accomplish something, we will make excuses, have self-doubts and overthink every step before even trying to start something, We may need guarantees to commit our time and energy to beginning a project. Without this project, we lack the credits, experience and skills to achieve our professional goals. Despite our fears, we can turn them into fuel to do amazing things. Just think about the power of focus. The moment we commit to one action, we can go above and beyond the call of duty, and still have time to live our life. 

We only fear because we believe what we want may not happen. We assume there is a negative outcome at the end of the tunnel. Furthermore, we may fear taking our car to the auto repair shop over potential financial setbacks. If our engine fails and/or the transmission is worn out, we already know this will cost us money. Fear sets in: Our freedom to operate independently is at risk. 

What do we do with fear? What if we can only be brave while under the influence of drugs and alcohol? The truth is that we must face our fears--substance free--to know the answer. The longer we wait to take serious actions, the more stress and pressure we will experience. 

Fear of rejection is common among many people, especially in the dating scene. People who lack confidence are afraid their romantic interest will say no. They've already imagined having this person in their future, so if they say no their fantasy may evaporate into thin air. What makes this worse is that vulnerable people can attach their happiness to someone else. If they never get into a relationship with this individual, they will be miserable forever. 

No person is responsible for our happiness, only we control this outcome. 

We hear it all too often: Our significant other will tell us that I am not happy. They want to see what they can get. They wanna know if the grass is greener on the other side. They didn't get to have fun. They may fear leaving a relationship out of comfort and unforeseen events. When they loose the fear to take a risk, they can make a big mistake to lose their relationship. 

If people do not entertain their imagination, they will regret not knowing what could have been. 

Fear of success is another barrier that can block your screenwriting. What if you live in an environment with people you do not want to leave behind? Maybe you believe you want to leave them, but you care too much to make a bold move. Emotional attachments create fear, delay decisions and stall out production. 

Nice people enjoy giving to others. They will devote more time and energy to people, whereas their projects, goals and dreams remain on the back-burner. There are really cruel people who use others to pave their future path. When these people do not have a need for someone who poured their heart into them, they toss them away and move on to the next best opportunity. These negative experiences can impact what nice people do in the future. The best way to deal with bad encounters is to identify the users as losers. Keep in mind and remember that not every person is preying on you. 

Don't lose trust in humanity. 

Focus on losing your fears. Gaining confidence relies on us to do something uncomfortable daily. If we fear writing a screenplay, then we will fear pitching our project to executives. What are your fears? Make it a habit to confront your weaknesses. Screenwriting is process that takes many steps. Once you reach the finish line, you will be thankful you had confidence to take action. 

Happy Screenwriting! 

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! 

  

The Social Media Game

In my honest opinion: There are many effective ways to confront the trolling/hating/negativity problem we see on platforms designed to create 24-7 attention online—dopamine rush. 

Become the change you want to see in this world... Write a self-love book, become a personal coach, teach personal growth from conflict to resolution, empower people through sharing other people’s stories, understand that countless people are broken beyond repair and crave envy/jealousy to function and recognize that people playing victims are actually enablers. 

What doesn’t work is self-pity, making people feel sorry and calling them out because the aggressors know they are winning. If we make little short films to show what we dislike and share these video clips, this creativity can increase public awareness. 

What works is gaining enough confidence to never worry about these people. 

Living life offline enjoying the simple moments matter most. Don’t delete negative comments to show people the real truth. If we have to explain what we want from others and justify why we should be treated a certain way as compared to others, we will never find inner peace and happiness. We shouldn’t exhaust our valuable energy challenging “out of touch” people. 

Working hard and teaching others how to stay fit can get rid of negative distractions. 

There is an obvious difference between confident people and those who struggle with low self-esteem and hide their pain/suffering. You can detect almost any positive/negative traits in the words. 

What people want to see is the steps to build better health and fitness. They want to know when we have off-days and how we overcome them. 

In the past few weeks, I elevated my fitness to achieve bigger goals that have drastically improved my focus and overall production. It’s exciting to pursue mini goals because taking action will bring us closer to our dreams. 

There is a reason there are stands where people just clap, support, shout, envy and act jealous—some people just accept complaining, whining, praising and self-doubting as a disguise to mask fear. These widely popular people providing entertainment on the court, on a field, in a ring, on a platform and on a stage have undergone immense criticism and still defied traditional conventions—even their family and friends have pushed big mountains in front of them to block their dreams/goals. 

If successful people allow other people’s negativity to seep into their minds, they will keep losing in this life. 

We live in a critical world; however, it is important for us to remain positive. Positive change starts with us... 

As a writer, I welcome criticism, the truth, negativity and jealousy. If I’m going to pitch a screenplay to executives, I will not tell them I deserve an option because I worked hard, I had to overcome many challenges, I had to take several jobs, I have no support and every other self-pity antic. They want to see a confident pitch that follows the industry steps. No amount of kicking and screaming will convince them to purchase a bad story. Besides, I wouldn’t waste my time sitting in a dark movie theater watching a happy story from beginning to end. 

The Pursuit of Happyness is a perfect movie to convey resilience and equal competition. Check out “Smithereens” Black Mirror episode. The answers you seek are there. Good luck 😊 

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...

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!

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...

Finishing Second Taught Me Valuable Lessons...

My Dad's 70th Birthday!

The Turkey Trot race held on the military base every November always made me anxious. Around the fall season in the late 1980's, I remember training harder to stay in better shape. My Dad put excessive pressure on me to win my age group in the Turkey Trot. There was this one classmate I could never defeat-- Brian Davilla. Somehow, Brian always surged ahead of me to win our age group. He claimed the first place prize: A turkey and recognition. Furthermore, he also defeated me in cross-country and track races held at the junior high school. Finishing in second place taught me valuable lessons in my life.

We all have wants, needs and desires. Sometimes we may disguise our help as caring for people so they don't make the same mistakes as we made in our unresolved past. However, we may hide our ulterior motives, our secret agendas away from the world. We may want to win. Winning makes us feel good. It gets us attention...

In those Turkey Trot races, I wanted to make my Dad proud of me. I really enjoyed running across the base with only the road ahead standing in front of me. If not for anxiety, I would have won so many competitive races. The high expectations to win dragged my confidence into the mud. Overthinking doomed me. Self-doubting convinced me that I would strike out before stepping on home plate. We all want to hit that homerun. Clapping, cheering and standing ovations can give us a dopamine high.

That adrenaline rush creates an instant surge of natural energy inside of us. Text message dinging... A DM from someone you like... A phone call... Going up to talk to someone you desire... What goes on in our mind travels way back to the past where we programmed these moments to matter. Social media likes...  Comments... Reposts... Follows... Subscribers...

Dopamine highs can cause us to experience a false sense of security. We may miss living real life trying to impress family, friends and strangers. We may need that instant gratification. We may want to feel appreciated. The large crowds jumping up and cheering for us may feel like an addictive drug. EDM beats can mimic the heartbeat of people on a dopamine high.

Once we stop winning, the crowds slowly disappear. People stop talking about our past victories. Most of our friends leave us behind. They move on to start new friendships. Attention is short lived. We should not live to win every moment. It's impossible to be on top of the world; we must also embrace losing races. Failure is important...

At one point or another, we have imagined giving an Oscar acceptance speech. What I end with is, Dad, I hope I made you proud. I only heard my Dad tell me he was proud of me once: Joining the Air Force and receiving his letters of encouragement in Military Basic Training. My Dad helped to get me through this challenging experience.

I know my Dad cares about my life. I realize my Dad is proud of me. He doesn't have to remind me. Actions matter... I always wanted him to see me as a winner. I wanted to share my victories with him. I heard my Dad make passive aggressive comments such as Tiger Woods or Michael Phelps' Dad must be proud of them or my best friend's Dad raised really successful sons. Why do we focus so much attention on what other people think? We start putting our meaningful relationships second. Chasing attention represents a temporary solution to feeling self-worth, appreciation and accepted.

We can waste our entire life on trying to please other people. We can get nervous asking someone we like on a date. We can fear outcomes that set our failures in stone. Or we may celebrate getting into the perfect relationship. Nothing in life is perfect. If we set impossible standards on our happiness, we will eventually meet unhappiness. Filling voids to be fulfilled will create artificial moments. Winning is mirage...

Finishing second taught me what really matters: The simple moments when I went camping, fishing and sporting events (football, baseball and basketball) with my Dad is what I celebrate. Winning the big race eventually becomes a distant memory. Meanwhile, the high emphasis we place on becoming successful at every turn puts our self-care second...


Happy Screenwriting! 

Lack of Support and Understanding: Why Writers Do What They Do?

Have you ever tried to include family and friends in your writing process? Share ideas with them? Tell them how you will write your scripts? However, you are met with eye rolls, sighs, unsupportive comments and criticism. Why do you have to justify the reasons you are a writer?

Some writers may feel they need other people to support their ideas. They attempt to open up with family, friends and even random strangers to prove their stories hold value. Once people realize you what you haven't done, they will stop listening to you talking...

Truth is, these people get tired of hearing about your dreams. Writers who have have yet to discover lucrative opportunities are judged with heavy criticism. They hear rude comments... They deal with passive aggressive behavior. Unsupportive people may have ulterior motives to hold you down. If you dream, you may accomplish success. If you accomplish success, it is possible you may leave...

Another way to look at it... If writers spend as much time living real life instead of remaining stuck inside a fantasy, just maybe their dream will come true. Some writers must understand that attention is overrated. Chasing after people to validate your dream will make you unhappy.

Just try to understand this: Screenwriting is viewed as a dream. What people think: Unsuccessful screenwriters are basically living in the clouds.

Do you take jobs that give you flexibility to live your dream? Work as a restaurant server? A ridesharing driver? Delivery driver? Barista? Content creation? Data science? Falling further behind? Struggling with a financial storm? There is a reason we may follow this pattern. You may hope that extending your dream can give you another chance to make everything right.

It goes much deeper than just wanting to achieve dreams, become famous, gain social status and/or get rich to experience unlimited freedom. You have a true reason you want your dream...

Whether you want to draw attention to yourself.... Whether you want to prove people wrong... Whether you want to appear successful... Whether you need value to feel self-worth... Whether you have a purpose to change the world... Whether you aspire to make people think that helping others is why you spend so much doing it... Whether you want to be popular because you did not have this feeling growing up... Whether you want compliments to boost your self-esteem... Whether you aspire to carry out the will of God to serve this world... Only you know why you want to do it.

Rewiring the mind to reflect on your dream is important. It is what can/will remove all focus off of why you need support and people to understand your journey as a writer.

Why do people want to feel good? Why do people want to feel happy? Why do people desire love? Why do people need acceptance? Why do people live for others?

Follow your dream because you find happiness taking the steps. Be excited about doing the work because you love your creativity. Be proud of yourself. The moment you make your dream all about what you are missing inside, you will find many unhappy moments. If you transfer what you are missing into your stories, you will reach an audience who can understand why you do what you do...

Ultimately, writers create what people watch... In return, they may feel proud of their work. They can make a living creating stories. It is possible: There is this small piece of them that may need this attention. If you surround yourself with supportive people who understand your journey, you will have a strong foundation to develop your ideas. If you tell stories about your challenges, struggles and hardships, people will listen to you.

The love, the time, the effort, the energy, the passion you give your dream will give you what you need inside. When people watch what you created, they will support you because they will know you understand real life. Create stories that mirror real life and solve these inner problems: Conflict/Resolution. Writers plant themes in every story. They want to send a message out into the world. Look further into why you do what you do...

Through the course of this life, you will change your motivation many times. Instead of questioning why you lack support and why people do not understand you, look deeper into your motivation. Why do you need your dream? You will eventually realize that you are your best support system. You are enough.

Don't wait to do what you love to do later on. The people you may want to prove wrong will be long gone. If you want people to hear your voice, tell stories that matter right now. Happy screenwriting!