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This column has focused on corporate and educational media writing as a "meal ticket" to provide income while working on screen and stage plays. I've always referred to work on screenplays as my "personal writing." While I've had many satisfying writing experiences in corporate media (and some that were sheer torture), one is always working as a "hired gun" in that arena. The subject is assigned. The scope of the project limited by budget, deadlines and other constraints. One functions primarily as a craftsperson-breathing life into another person's vision.
Writing screenplays, by contrast, is an outlet for making a statement that is important first and foremost to the writer. As the main character in the musical Sunday in the Park with George says: "art is what you do for yourself."
This week I learned my screenplay based on the life of Rachel Carson is a semi-finalist in the Moondance Screenplay competition. Whether it moves forward in the competition or not, such recognition is always an affirmation to keep plugging away on writing that is personally significant. So this week, a few thoughts about keeping focused on long range goals...
Make the Time
Freelance media writing has peaks and valleys. Sometimes we're incredibly busy, sometimes not so busy. When we have the time, it's important to make the most of it. Make it count by throwing yourself into "personal writing."
What's more difficult is how to keep the momentum going when you don't have the time. Whether you're working as a freelance media writer, waiting tables, working in the mailroom or going to a 9 to 5 job-you've still got to make the time for writing that matters to you.
When I have an all-consuming freelance assignment, I figure I still have Saturday and Sunday. My routine is to get up at the regular time, make coffee and go straight to the computer. A couple hours of screenplay writing those two mornings keeps the flow going. It's a lot better than letting a project go dormant for weeks or even months. Then it's tough to pick it up again mid-stream.
Study the Craft
Keep learning about the craft of screenwriting by attending seminars, reading voraciously about the craft, subscribing to relevant periodicals and making use of the Internet. Writing is a lonely, solitary craft.
As Rachel Carson herself put it: "...during the actual work of creation the writer cuts himself off from all others and confronts his subject alone. He moves into a realm where he has never been before-perhaps where no one has ever been. It is a lonely place, and even a little frightening."
Studying the craft is one way to deal with such isolation. It lets us know that there's a whole community of writers confronting their subjects alone. That thought should give us the courage and inspiration to persevere. It's a comfort when the writing is not going well. Or when rejection leads to self-doubt.
All writing begins in confusion. And it is only through the process of writing that we can solve problems inherent in a script.
Obsession
In the end, writers are compelled to write. We can't help ourselves. We can't accept the idea of not writing. In that sense, all writers are obsessive-compulsives. It's an illness only another writer can appreciate.
So, when real life seems to impose itself on your own personal writing-always keep one eye on the prize.
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