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Or basically, what motivates you to write and write well? Do you read a lot of pro scripts, scripts on the SS boards (many of you write like pros!), or watch a lot of movies?
Personally, it's a combination of all of these. Currently writing a new feature and I find myself staying up late reading screenplays, stalking the SS boards -- hoping that keeping my mind in a screenwriting zone will somehow translate to the page.
Talent is obviously essentially, but I think the big differentiator is work ethic, tenacity in the face of rejection and the uncontrollable variable of luck if someone is going to make a living out of it.
Joking aside, I'm not really sure what motivates me to write. The daily grind of a 9 to 5 job sucks, sure. But honestly, I'm just lazy. I enjoy writing screenplays. And if someone out there enjoys reading my stories, then that's all the motivation I need to continue writing.
My motivation - self fulfillment and seeing trash have been by two motivations.
I typed Fade Out on my first script on August 1, 2014 at age of 57 after spending 30 years as a government bureaucrat. I wanted to be a writer since my early teens but a marriage at 20 and two kids by the time I was 25 meant I had to pay the bills - ergo, I didn't give writing a shot until after I retired.
I plunged through that first one and when done, just had an overwhelming since of fulfillment. Maybe like a wood worker after carving something or a Potter after they put the glaze on the first vase they crafted. I had something concrete I created all by myself and it just felt rewarding. That feeling keeps me going along with --
Seeing trash.
I'l bet that many of us got into this because we saw so many dreadful movies that we thought - fok, I can do better than that! i.e., the intimidation factor isn't there like it might be for other art forms - take singers for example. The vast majority of them can sing and you don't think - fok, I can do that. Long winded way of saying I get more inspired to return to the keyboard when I see a crap movie then when I see a great one. Hope that makes sense.
Writing is my hobby, my escape from the norm and it is like the best meditation exercise for me. I watch a lot of movies and TV but that isn't to motivate myself, it's because I enjoy watching them. It's the same with writing, I enjoy it.
Now, the morivation I need isn't the writing but the sheer effort in trying to achieve something with the writing. I do find that hard. Entering comps, sending off query letters, networking - all that stuff is hard work, although the networking can sometimes spur my motivation onwards.
One day I want to quit my day job and switch to writing full time. Reminding me of that motivates me.
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This is a massive question for me and something I've struggled with increasingly in recent years.
Suggestions:
- Read scripts - Watch films - Ignore how difficult it is to actually get a film made. - Ignore the many thousands of great scripts that go unproduced. - Ignore the many thousands of great scripts that go unread. - Cherish the stories of writers who broke in after the age you are now.
So true for a lot of us I think, myself included. And with the risk of sounding very motivational quote-y: It's easy to dream. We all have dreams. It's what you do to achieve them that matters.
In my opinion you shouldn't force yourself to write. If you truly want to write than inspiration will strike sometime and that is when you should write, and you will probably write your best work.
I like to write comedy sketches and singular situations, so where I struggle is longevity. When I wrote a more serious piece like "Jonah" on the shorts page, it was meant to be a feature film. It ended up being a short because 1. I struggled with the plot 2. The thought of writing a feature film was just exhausting. It was the first time I had attempted to write a serious piece never mind a feature and it got to me. I just didn't have the mental stamina.
I guess what I am trying to say is write what you are comfortable writing and then writing will be enjoyable. If you inspire to write something totally different, start slowly and don't throw yourself in at the deep end.