The nature of things

Brilliant post over at David's blog today.

Great to get that reminder.

Because really - its a sad truth. He talks about listening to the guy that wrote Little Miss Sunshine - and how most scripts just aren't quite there.

Great article on that guy here:

Article on guy who wrote Little Miss Sunshine

He wrote over 100 drafts of his story. Wow. He must really be a sucky writer to have to do it that many times... :)

If I had to place a bet - I would put my money on this. Those of us who have fallen into this profession - or the outskirts of this profession - did this because writing was something we liked. We were encouraged in school that we were good at it. We were the types who loved movies and stories and this kind of thing just came naturally to us. We could sit down the night before a paper was due and kick out a story without a lot of planning. We breezed through school with A's and B's and were pretty good at expressing ourselves on paper.

It should be easy to transition to screenwriting, right?

Hmmm.

There are a lot of unfinished scripts hitting the market.

Interesting huh?

And convicting.

I find it much easier to start a new script than fix an old one. I don't even like to read it again once I put it down. Is it because I'm lazy and don't wanna do the work? Maybe. Possibly. But I also just love coming up with new stuff and moving on.

Either way - if someone told you that the script you were working on now would sell - but only after 6 years of daily work and 100 drafts - do you still wanna keep working on it? Do you have what it takes?

I don't know that I do.

My script that got picked up was 2.5 drafts in. It was too long and had way too many scenes. But people still wanted it. I still get calls today about it. It is still moving forward.

But is it as good as it can be?

No. Not even close.

And yet one producer who has really championed it - and has a big output deal at Paramount - told me it was better than 95% of the scripts that he reads.

Which again is no reflection on my brilliance - just more a reflection of the crap that is out there.

We all need to buckle down.

What got us by in high school- Emily excluded - is not what gets us work in the real world of Hollywood. Sure - natural talent helps - but the true test is can you take something that is Ok and make it great. That's good writing.

Put yourself to the test. See how committed you are. And go forth and write. Better and harder.

I promise I will. Right after this game of spider solitaire. And a shower. And I really should clean this room...