At some point you have to give up

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  • At some point you have to give up

    Right?

    I'm just curious as to how long aspiring screenwriters intend to devote their time and energy to their craft.

    I've been writing for a year and a half, have completed five screenplays and am half-way done with a sixth. No luck in terms of representation or sales. The sixth one is going to be my last, then I'm completely ditching the whole thing.

    So is anyone else here setting a deadline for themselves?

  • #2
    Re: At some point you have to give up

    A year and a half is nothing, dude. Literally. It's nothing.

    If that's all you can devote to this, then you don't have the drive or dedication to do it.

    Malcolm Gladwell once said that the key to success in any field is devoting 10,000 hours of practice to your craft.

    I'm no mathematician, but 10,000 hours of practice will take you much more than a year and a half.

    Patience, Daniel San. Patience.

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    • #3
      Re: At some point you have to give up

      If you're trying to make it as a screenwriter, you need to treat it like any other career change. How many careers can you think of that only requires a year and a half of part-time training? Even if you were going full-bore the whole time, you're not there yet.

      Five scripts in the bag is no small feat, congrats on that. But what were you learning while writing those scripts? It takes a lot more than just writing scripts to learn the craft.

      Some say the first million words are free, others say it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert. There is some truth in that, though you don't need to be an expert to break in, just better than most.

      If your scripts are coming out like gems, perhaps it's your strategy that needs work. What are you doing besides querying?
      Vancouver Screenwriters Meetup Group

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      • #4
        Re: At some point you have to give up

        When you're setting a deadline to quit, you're not in it to win it. That kind of thinking is counterproductive to being a screenwriter. With that said, you might not be a screenwriter. There's no shame in quitting and pursuing something else. Life is too short.
        Ring-a-ding-ding, baby.

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        • #5
          Re: At some point you have to give up

          If you were to treat writing like an other pursuit, where you were compared against other professionals, let's say a pro track athlete, would you train 1.5 years and expect to be in the Brazil Olympics?

          Frustration is a natural part of any endeavor. Perhaps more so with writing.

          Shall we talk about rejection now?

          EJ

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          • #6
            Re: At some point you have to give up

            My thoughts on the matter.

            ETA: Thought this from ReneC was funny in that thread:


            Originally posted by ReneC View Post
            I'll follow your advice and encourage screenwriters who want to quit to do so.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: At some point you have to give up

              When I saw the title of the thread, I opened it up fully expecting to see a tale of long years of woe... a decade of struggles trying to learn the craft, years of net-working and making contacts, thousands of queries and phone calls.

              Perhaps I expected to see a recounting of small successes - baby steps. Contests placed in, good feedback from a producer here or there, even a short note from your mother saying your stuff was great.

              I didn't expect a year and a half.

              If we all gave up after a year and a half of learning none of us would have ever mastered long division. I've eaten things out of my refrigerator that were older than that.

              Talk about not giving yourself a chance. Talk about a waste of time.
              If a woman has to choose between catching a fly ball and saving an infant's life, she will choose to save the infant's life without even considering if there are men on base.
              Dave Barry

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              • #8
                Re: At some point you have to give up

                By the way, while a year and a half IS an incredibly short amount of time, there's no arbitrary amount of time that's going to make you a good writer. Those "I've been doing this for ten years, how do I get a rep?" stories make me cringe too. The real questions are "Am I better than I was yesterday?" and "Is this script better than my last one?"
                Ring-a-ding-ding, baby.

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                • #9
                  Re: At some point you have to give up

                  I've been writing all my life...it's only screenwriting that I've been doing for a year and a half. It's not like I woke up at age 25 one morning and said, "I think writing might be interesting, I think I might try that."

                  Not trying to discourage anyone, but I think it's sensible and smart to set reasonable limits for yourself. I don't want to be 40 and still be sending out query letters.

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                  • #10
                    Re: At some point you have to give up

                    Screenwriting is a different animal, though. It's a different skill-set that you're employing. In some ways, it's almost more difficult to come from writing novels/novellas/short stories/poems than it is to come in fresh, because you're essentially unlearning as many things as you're learning.

                    Give it time. A lot more time.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: At some point you have to give up

                      Forty isn't really the end of life. Honest, it's not.

                      I have no idea if/when I will quit. I am not quitting my dayjob so I don't need to set any hard deadlines. I'll keep writing until I stop enjoying it, and I'll keep submitting my scripts until I decide my best isn't good enough and I can't get any better.

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                      • #12
                        Re: At some point you have to give up

                        Yeah, I'll definitely give it time. And if an idea hits me in the future I'll certainly write it out and send out queries, even if I'm doing something completely different then.

                        But still, I'd just like to hear some opinions on this. At what point do you say, "this isn't for me, it's time to move on?" Obviously none of us want to think about this, but that's exactly why it's important.

                        Writing is great, and pursuing your ambitions is great, but you also have a life you need to live.

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                        • #13
                          Re: At some point you have to give up

                          There's no shame in giving up. You realized something 99 percent of us will never admit to ourselves.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: At some point you have to give up

                            Originally posted by entlassen View Post
                            Not trying to discourage anyone, but I think it's sensible and smart to set reasonable limits for yourself. I don't want to be 40 and still be sending out query letters.
                            Why not? I honestly never understand people talking about giving up. It's not like pro sports where you have a very limited window to "make it" and then it's over. You can write pretty much as long as you live. And if you truly love writing (which I guess you don't) why would you ever call it quits? Mazin put it perfectly in one of the Scriptnotes podcasts: writing is the cheapest thing you can do. All you need is some free time and the desire to tell stories.

                            Originally posted by entlassen View Post
                            Writing is great, and pursuing your ambitions is great, but you also have a life you need to live.
                            This is another one I don't quite get. It doesn't have to be either or scenario. You don't have to give up things to keep on writing. Again: writing is the cheapest thing to do. If you really love it you'll keep doing it.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: At some point you have to give up

                              I'll gladly encourage anyone who is on the fence to quit and quit fast.

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