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Mistakes-R-Us. So far the pantheon of The Ten Mistakes New Writers Always Make (even though they think they know better) includes: #1: Going Out with your Script Before It's Ready; #2: Going Out with your Script Before YOU'RE Ready; #3: Going Out with your Scripts Before The Industry is Ready; #4: Taking the Easy Road; #5: Taking the Hard Road; #6: Not Writing From Your Heart; and Mistake #7: Not Writing From Your Wallet.
So now you not only have all your work habits down cold, but you're choosing your stories with an eye both to the things that move you personally, and the things that will move audiences to plunk down nine bucks to see your movie. Your scripts are worked up to perfection, and they're the kinds of stories that studios love, those with passion that have a keen commercial sensibility. Now it's time to watch for falling moneybags, right?
Whoa, slow down there a minute, cowboy. You may THINK you're writing commercial fare, you might THINK you're hitting all the right buttons, you might THINK you have a can't-miss game plan. But how do you KNOW? If you're having trouble answering this question, you might very well be having an intimate, caring relationship with...
Mistake #8: Not Knowing the Game.
"Come on, I know The Game. I go to movies, I follow the industry, I know what's selling and what isn't."
Do you? Really? Okay, you go to movies. Does that mean you see one every week or two, or do you use every possible opportunity to see what's out there now, with a special emphasis on movies that do very well? I'm perpetually amazed at how people who claim they want to be in this business are often-times very indifferent movie-goers. But EVERY SINGLE SUCCESSFUL SCREENWRITER I KNOW is a movie fiend, catching absolutely as many movies as their work/personal schedule allows. And not just movies they're interested in, either. You have to see everything, good and bad, in genres you like and those you don't, if you want to play this game.
But it doesn't stop there. You also have to know about the business itself. This doesn't mean an occasional glance at the year-old Premiere in your podiatrist's offiice. It means having a subscription to either Variety or the Hollywood Reporter or both (barring that, having access to one of these daily, if you work in an entertainment office or just live close to a newsstand.)
And there's more. You have to find out what spec scripts are selling out there (which you will by reading the trades) and then get your hands on those scripts and read THEM. You should read a lot of scripts anyway, good ones, bad ones, produced ones, not-yet-produced ones. Having a current, working sense of what's going on in the industry script-wise is a key element of your writer's utility belt. It's why you're always hearing about this producer's assistant or that junior development executive writing a script that sells. Sure, they have connections. But more important, their jobs hook them in to the most current flows and eddies of the business. And it's also why, incidentally, you DON'T hear about that many people who live outside of L.A. who sell a spec. You have to be here to be hooked in, and you have to be hooked in to Know the Game.
Fine, so now you know what you need to know, and you go out and learn it. Are we there yet?
You know better than that. Two more mistakes to go. And you know where to find them.
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