|
This
week's answer:
Self
Writing
Gay, I appreciate you writing to
me. Are you
sure about not wanting to spiral down into a deep
depression? I
kind of like downward spiraling.
At least it saves on gas.
And deep depressions aren’t all that bad.
If you like quicksand.
Which, come to think of it, I like -- unless I'm
in it, and then I don't. Maybe it's because, if
you're in quicksand, the more you struggle, the deeper
you go. It sort of sounds like a
screenwriting career that's gone bad, doesn't it?
The Chinese (they never seem to
look very depressed) have a saying:
“Lengthen your own line.”
That doesn’t mean make your dialogue longer.
At least, I don’t think that’s what the
Chinese were referring to.
Unless... the saying came from a wise old Chinese
screenwriter sage.
If that’s the case, then my entire worldview
has just drastically changed.
But, assuming that my initial interpretation is
correct, “lengthen your own line” means only compare
yourself to yourself.
(Unless your self doesn’t like being compared
to and has some kind of phobia about it. In that case, I’d have a good talk with yourself and get
things straightened out.
Self therapy is supposed to be good for that.)
But, assuming your self is okay
with being compared with, then the idea works quite
well. A dire mistake is made (dire for your confidence,
your career, and whatever else is affected by the
mistake) when a screenwriter compares himself to another
screenwriter. Instead
of performing that futile exercise, it’s best to
channel that same energy into monitoring your own
progression. Look
for your own progression, not others.
Did you write a screenplay?
Did you write a second one?
Do you think the second one is better than the
first? Is
your writing getting better?
Are you already so tired of these questions that
you want to stop reading this and get back to doing
anything else, which includes working on your
screenwriting?
Seek where YOU have gotten better,
not someone else who could have gotten and accomplished
“better.” Have
you taken steps to get your screenplay(s) read by
professionals? Have
you taken more and more of these steps? Chart your progression.
If there hasn’t been enough progress, you’ll
see it and, if your desire is strong enough to succeed
as a screenwriter, noting the lack of progress will
compel you to do what it takes to reverse that momentum
or overcome any possible inertia and move forward in
your career.
Truly, if you’re willing to look
even more deeply into your urge to compare yourself with
others, you may very well find that you do so as a type
of distraction, creating a way to avoid being in the
center of yourself, willing to embrace the discomfort
regarding your thoughts about where you are on your
path. But,
if you are willing to do just that, stay present
with yourself, you may find out something extremely
beneficial and quite wonderful about yourself.
That is if your self is willing to
let you stay present with it.
Sometimes it just wants to watch a good movie.
Hey!
You could write one of those for your self!
DcH
|
