When I decided I wanted to be a writer to pursue writing, I knew I’d have to spend a considerable amount of time focusing on my craft. I was always good at putting strong copy together quickly, but fleshing out a multi-scene story with several characters and motivations is a different challenge. With copy it’s over fairly quickly if not painfully. Like having a tooth pulled. By your dad. With a pair of rusty pliers (and yes, this has happened to me).
Writing a story (feature length script, short, whatever) is more like a kidney stone. You think you may have passed it after the first draft, but you haven’t. It takes frequent revisions to pass these stones.
And because of this pain and time involved, you become very particular about your next project.
It has to be something your passionate about. Something you’re willing to spend time with in exchange for going outside, having drinks with friends, spending time with your family and watching Mad Men. (Okay, okay I still make time for a lot of these things, but your priorities WILL shift.)
In fact, you start to believe you have to find the perfect idea. The perfect project. But there is no such thing. Every idea has detrimental flaws if you think about it long enough. You can always find a reason not to move forward, but ultimately that’s an option that keeps you loving in your grandma’s basement, not being successful in your career.
So I guess that’s where I am now– forming another stone.
