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! 

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!

Contribute To Your Empty IMDb Profile

IMDb

For those who actually care about breaking into Hollywood, there is proof of this extra effort on their IMDb profile. A lot of Hollywood dreamers enjoy talking a big game to get attention. They post pictures on the red carpet, mention reading scripts on their phones, and share that they are under NDA for television shows they are on. They put "Public Figure" in their social media profile. These are big talkers with empty results. 

We don't need a scroll of roles, jobs and past projects to show we care about our Hollywood dream. I've encountered so many Hollywood people who haven't done the backend work to promote their skills. IMDb is the internet destination to locate all things related to movies. If you have the paid IMDd Pro edition, you can track down contact information to almost any entity in the industry. 

IMDd allows contributors to add information to profiles. In a way, they operate on a similar model to WikiPedia. However, IMDb is focused on maintaining a movie database with in-depth material. 

The problem with gloaters trying to impress people is that many of them have blank IMDb profiles. Unless someone added them to a production, they have no bio written, no trivia, no other works, no birthdates, no height, no quotes and anything else.

If the Hollywood dream is so important, why is this industry profile unfinished? People like to talk about how great they are, how smart everyone thinks they are. It can be an ego problem, where they love listening to themselves speak highly of themselves and are lazy to do the basic steps. In other cases, there are some people who do not take their dream serious to invest an hour into contributing content to their profile. Lastly, there are some newcomers who have little knowledge of IMDb to build out their profile. 

Expecting a million dollar dream to come true purely on luck is like riding a wave to your favorite dream destinations. Meeting industry people without having anything substantial to show them is another problem. Being prepared at moment's notice can increase your opportunities. Downplaying your value--humbling yourself--can show people you are easy to work with and there won't be a lot of pushing and shoving. 

Making your IMDb profile sizzle is the basic requirement in Hollywood. Leaving this profile blank is proof that you don't want your dream bad enough. Some social media personalities enjoy sharing the highlight reels and leaving out the tedious steps. Rushing results for instant gratification, acknowledgement and self-value can put Hollywood out of reach. 

Just do yourself a favor and contribute to your IMDd profile.

Happy Screenwriting! 

 

Screenwriting Tips: How To Break Into Hollywood

The First Draft to Final Draft: Starting A Screenplay

The fear of writing a script is a mental game. Whether we want other people to view us as capable and worthy of this creative art, the most serious block is the criticism that comes along with our final draft and/or a produced film that enters the streaming and/or the box office market. We can get stuck waiting for the right time to write. We may wait for permission to engage. Your screenwriting dream depends on you taking action to complete script pages...

Truth is, the fear of actually doing screenwriting blocks most writers. If someone tells you, you have no talent, this feedback can break you. Similar to our characters, we can walk around juggling several weaknesses that introduce bad habits into our daily lives. Screenwriting can be as simple as setting a schedule to write your story. No matter the criticism of doing something with no guarantee to be optioned, we stay committed to the process like running a road race.

Commitment is what turns an aspiring screenwriter into a serious artist. Discipline keeps a screenwriter on track to complete their screenplay. Once we start a script, we can see a glimpse of our scenes connecting the dots to the overall story. Our first draft is just a first draft. It is not set in stone for the world to squash our talents, skills and storytelling abilities. Sure, we may not be as good as the best screenwriters in Hollywood. However, the best screenwriters are subjectively ranked based on personal preferences. Moreover, box office returns can help a screenwriter climb up the Hollywood ladder. The media, fans and critics share their personal opinions on who are the best writers in the film industry.

There is no such thing as the best screenwriter in Hollywood. Aaron Sorkin, James Cameron, George Lucas, Paul Shrader, Shane Black, Joe Eszterhas, Scott Frank and other famous screenwriters are one of the best at their writing craft. I am certain they have written past drafts that they viewed as mediocre work. We can become our worst critic, beating ourselves up for the work we have completed, or haven't even started yet.

Remember: You have to start your screenplay. Talking about how great your idea is and how your story will capture millions of people will keep you stuck in a fantasy. Those blank pages require hard work and consistent effort. This is the reason screenwriting groups can delay your journey.

Many people enjoy impressing people, as if they want strangers to be proud of them. They are missing something in life, so they require validation from people who they will never meet. It's sad how many dreams are lost to fear. What is much worse is living to please crowds of people who have no impact on your daily survival. The DJ, singer and sports mentality can fuel competition. If all we live for is to entertain crowds and our stardom has passed or never ever existed, we can enter some seriously dark moments.

Your life is your story structure. Think about all the events that had to take place before other moments could happen. When we are living in the moment, we get too caught up in our emotions that we don't see the blessings in disguise. We don't know that we are dodging bullets to save our future. All we can think about is the pain and suffering we are experiencing in real-time. Sometimes victim mentality gets the best of us. We don't take personal responsibility because this makes us look weak, unintelligent and/or a failure. Someone is always to blame, an excuse. mechanism to shift accountability and appear morally good. Get out of your head, or use what is in your head to start structuring your screenplay.

There is a beginning, middle and end to every scene. It doesn't matter if you start later in the story, this paradigm--beginning, middle and end--is the glue that holds your story together.

Please read the first draft of scripts to your favorite films. Yesterday, I read the first draft of The Pursuit of Happyness. I can honestly share that I didn’t like the original opening. The time machine character is different. There is no stockbroker meeting in the first few minutes of the story, instead Chris talks to a structural engineer. The film opens in Venice, California, where Chris and Linda are unsure about their future with an unborn Christopher swollen in the belly. Writing the first draft probably helped the screenwriter to brainstorm additional ideas. Our first draft is basically a rough draft.

Just remember your first draft may seem strange, bad, poor quality and everything else circulating in your critical mind.

Overthinking is a curse on our confidence. We can self-doubt so much that we will delay living our dream. We can put our dream out of fear that people will criticize us. Nothing happens in life if we don't formulate an action plan. If we get into the car and drive from the West Coast to the East Coast without a plan, our journey may be boring, uneventful and unpredictable. Our stories can begin with taking an unexpected road trip; however, we need a reason that leads up to this decision. Don't overthink your dream as if you need this to happen or else your life is a failure.

If we put our dream on a pedestal, we may imagine all the future possibilities of living this fantasy. The moment reality hits us and our dream is over, we can lose our identity. Instead of celebrating we are unique human beings, we will hang our heads low and feel like failures. You are more than just a screenwriter. You are more than just an artist. You are a human being choosing screenwriting as your future career. It is the dream life you want to live daily, creating the most compelling stories that entertain, teach and/or inspire others.

Read the first drafts to your favorite films. This will show you that even the best screenwriters are still learning with every new story. Be open minded to tell your story a number of different ways with a variety of techniques. We can turn typically boring scenes into electrifying stories through a multitude of actions, inactions and/or crisp dialogue. Nonverbal communication can represent your secret weapon.

The first drafts of professional screenplays that have already went through several revisions and are produced films are sometimes a mess. If we watched the film first, we know what worked and what failed to see the silver screen. Know what you want with your screenwriting career: Act on it right now.

Happy Screenwriting!

Hollywood, We Have A Problem

The lower echelon of Hollywood are faking it to make it. These performers post images and write captions on their social media accounts to imply they are famous/public figures. They talk about their dreams as if they have already made them come true. Their unappealing IMDb credits are propped up as star vehicles on the red carpets. There has been a surge of promotional media articles shining a big spotlight on unknown actors, especially during the pandemic. Hollywood, we have a problem... 

Media authors are failing to fact check their interview subjects. They portray unaccomplished actors/actresses as A-list stars. Many background actors who have no dialogue in films are being given credit as top billed cast members. These articles describe the actors/actresses using superlatives to over inflate their value in Hollywood. It is like watching infomercials selling generic products. 

God forbid these media writers would actually do their research before interviewing these aspiring performers. The articles are sickening to read because the media writers lack the understanding to honestly promote talents and performers. They bend the truth to attract readers, telling white lies to boost movie extras into Hollywood superstars. At the end of the day, the performers are sharing these articles to elevate their confidence and get attention. Unfortunately, the need to be a good person represents a mask that clearly hides deeper challenges of low self-value and vulnerabilities. 

Nevertheless, the articles on steroids distract aspiring Hollywood actors/actresses from working harder to land roles in popular films. Why invest time and energy into your craft if getting attention matters most? Somehow, constructive criticism and opinions are viewed as hating on their success. Despite desperate followers leaving over-the-top comments to send their ego soaring into the clouds, they spend little time doing introspection to grow thicker skin and withstand the potential trials and tribulations of Hollywood.   

Taking the difficult steps to struggle is what dreams are about. Becoming humble to downplay self-importance keeps Hollywood actors/actresses honest. Just imagine attention-seeking people who need media coverage about their so-called success to share with their fans. They enjoy the highlight reels that give them temporary satisfaction. If these Hollywood dreamers refuse to tell the truth about their Hollywood status, writers must maintain integrity in their promotional pieces. 

Dear media writers, do some research on your interview subjects. Review the films and the backgrounds of these actors/actresses. Stop making unknowns appear as famous Hollywood personalities. You are hurting the future of these performers. When you put them on pedestals for what they haven't accomplished yet, you influence their dreams and goals. Instead of encouraging them to work harder, they are fixated on bathing in all the attention. 

If your media articles were covering baseball players, many of your interview subjects are batting .120 and hitting 3 home runs in a season off the bench for a minor league team. Hollywood credits are comparable to sports statistics: They tell the true story of success.    

Faking it to make it is a trap. Media writers who regurgitate articles already posted on these unaccomplished actors/actresses are flooding the search engines with low-quality content. Check out the feature and short films you are using as examples to describe the so-called public figures making waves in Hollywood. 

Hollywood, we have a serious problem. Media writers and social media platforms are contributing to the fake famous movement. Public figures are almost everywhere on social media. It is not the number of IMDb credits (background/extras weighted less) attached to a talent, it is the quality of the credits that determine whether someone is successful in Hollywood. Start showing you care to share the truth, media writers! 

   

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!