What's The Point Of It All?

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  • #61
    Re: What's The Point Of It All?

    Originally posted by MargoChanning View Post
    I just came across this and was deeply touched as I feel I'm in the same predicament. Been at this for about 15 years and had my highs and lows.
    After 15 years I finally got my first "real" check last week. Those years weren't a waste.

    If you believe, hang in there. Write a story about a character that you love. Seriously and you will get traction.

    Comment


    • #62
      Re: What's The Point Of It All?

      Originally posted by Anointed View Post
      After 15 years I finally got my first "real" check last week. Those years weren't a waste.

      If you believe, hang in there. Write a story about a character that you love. Seriously and you will get traction.
      This is so inspiring. One of the hardest things is to stay self-motivated. For 15 years too... whoa!

      Congrats.

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      • #63
        Re: What's The Point Of It All?

        Congrats on the podcast, GhostWrite. I'm a true crime fan - please post the name of your show so we can all listen!

        As to your larger point...

        Look, I've been working for awhile, so I'm as prejudiced on one side as you are on the other. I've hired many writers; I've been hired as a writer. All I want to say to everyone else who's still trying to break in is... it may feel like a corrupt or unfair system, but people break in every day, and most of them break in on the quality of their writing, not nepotism or luck.

        It's tough, but there are a lot of paths in. If you have to do this, if screenwriting is the only thing that'll make you happy, then don't assume it's impossible.

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        • #64
          Re: What's The Point Of It All?

          Originally posted by StreetWriter View Post
          This is so inspiring. One of the hardest things is to stay self-motivated. For 15 years too... whoa!

          Congrats.
          Thanks.

          Two years ago I wrote a script that I absolutely loved writing. I cold queried somewhere around 50 managers, got about 15 requests and signed with who I think is the best manager out there.

          Like Jeff just said, there's lot of paths in and I've read about them all on this board in the last 15 years.

          Your path is yours. You just have to forge it.

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          • #65
            Re: What's The Point Of It All?

            Originally posted by Anointed View Post
            After 15 years I finally got my first "real" check last week. Those years weren't a waste.

            If you believe, hang in there. Write a story about a character that you love. Seriously and you will get traction.
            Congrats! So happy for you.

            I did that. Wrote something that was very personal. This is the script my rep was shopping when he quit. That said, I believe in it, and am working hard not to give in and give up.

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            • #66
              Re: What's The Point Of It All?

              What's The Point Of It All?
              The point of it all is to not die, and not fear dying.
              Know this: I'm a lazy amateur, so trust not a word what I write.
              "The ugly can be beautiful. The pretty, never." ~ Oscar Wilde

              Comment


              • #67
                Re: What's The Point Of It All?

                Originally posted by Crayon View Post
                The point of it all is to not die, and not fear dying.
                To be born is to die.

                Comment


                • #68
                  Re: What's The Point Of It All?

                  For a novelist, the point of it all is to create the art. We are driven and can't help ourselves.

                  The question for poets and novelist has always been, "Would you keep on writing and creating art if you knew there would be no one to read it?"

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                  • #69
                    Re: What's The Point Of It All?

                    Originally posted by Incognito View Post
                    To be born is to die.
                    Night is falling.

                    It is a short life, a long death, and a bad beating in the bargain.

                    (Hey I just wrote a damn Sam Beckett anagram and I'm not even Beckett and don't even look like him...).

                    Comment


                    • #70
                      Re: What's The Point Of It All?

                      Originally posted by Novelist View Post
                      The question for poets and novelist has always been, "Would you keep on writing and creating art if you knew there would be no one to read it?"
                      Sure. I mean, why not leave something behind to amuse Extra-Terrestrials, maybe answer a few of their questions about what happened to planet Earth in the bargain, too?

                      Originally posted by Max Otto Schrenck View Post
                      Night is falling. It is a short life, a long death, and a bad beating in the bargain. (Hey I just wrote a damn Sam Beckett anagram and I'm not even Beckett and don't even look like him...).
                      Ahhh, hold on... I knew someone with a cat named “Beckett” and you do resemble that cat... man.


                      Re: What's The Point Of It All?
                      The proverbial point of it all is at the end of our proverbial styli waiting to spill forth onto the proverbial page. Write on.
                      “Nothing is what rocks dream about” ― Aristotle

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                      • #71
                        Re: What's The Point Of It All?

                        What's The Point Of It All?
                        To be blunt, there is no point. At the end, we are all worn down like wax crayons.
                        Know this: I'm a lazy amateur, so trust not a word what I write.
                        "The ugly can be beautiful. The pretty, never." ~ Oscar Wilde

                        Comment


                        • #72
                          Re: What's The Point Of It All?

                          a good writer would just write a script about the point of it all. look, i've been writing a movie about Captain Picard living out his retirement solving crimes together with a baboon with a bandana (who is actually just a useless baboon but because he has a bandana people and even Picard treats him like he is at least a trained baboon. But he isn't. He just fuks up and can't even do the dishes). then i heard Picard is actually back now for real with a new show. So the point is that you can't control what can happen, only your own writing.

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                          • #73
                            Re: What's The Point Of It All?

                            https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/b2528a8...yebOyg3dX.copy

                            ('Course, we all know how that turns out...)

                            Comment


                            • #74
                              Re: What's The Point Of It All?

                              Gosh this thread gave me all kinds of existential anxiety... thanks for that, OP.

                              All kidding aside:

                              I think there are a few ways to look at it and they are all valid. I could bring up the examples of older writers who hit their stride much later in life- the Bukowskis, Chandlers of the world. In screenwriting I don't know who the equivalent would be - maybe the dude who won an Oscar for King's Speech at 80-something?

                              But I think Geoff Alexander in his haiku-like simplicity hit it on the head. If you aren't making any money doing it and you're not enjoying it, maybe it's time to move on. There's real honor in that.

                              I make money doing this and I don't love it. Work steadily on big projects, have momentum on lots of stuff but... I've never been produced. I am in my mid 30s and have been doing this professionally for a decade now. When someone asks if they have seen my work I want to punch them in the nuts, swim to Cuba and open up a pizzeria. Seriously. It's insanely depressing. But I also realize that to some , I have "made it- since I'm a professional screenwriter without a side job.

                              There is almost always a bittersweetness to what we do. Even if you succeed, you most likely have swallowed so much dirt along the way that you are somewhat jaded. It NEVER ends. You think having a huge tv show on Netflix will bring you happiness? Wait till it gets canceled because nobody watches it or it gets ravaged by critics because it ultimately sucks. You have a hit? You'll be banging your head trying to replicate that weird magic that got you attention in the first place. It's ALL hard.

                              I guess my thing is.... you should have some tangible success that keeps the car (ie your enthusiasm) going. Usually it depends on where you are in your career but for me it was getting awards in grad school, signing with the big dick agencies, getting into the WGA, getting hired etc.

                              Obviously these things didn't get me an Oscar or a produced credit, but they were all tangible victories along the way.

                              If years and years go by without any tangible victories I do think it's a good idea to reconsider the whole thing. Madness and heartache are fun for a while but they can also destroy you.

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