"GOOD" AND "BAD" ARE WORTHLESS CONCEPTS: All That Matters Is Being Effective
It starts with asking "Why?" Why do you want to be a screenwriter?
So... How Does One Become An Effective Screenwriter?
I’d suggest that the first thing you need to do - well before you start even thinking about doing business - is to set healthy, reasonable, personal goals so that you can actually achieve them and feel good about those accomplishments.
Let’s start by asking simple questions and using them to set some basic goals:
Ask Yourself …
Why do I want to be a screenwriter?
Then set a goal around your answer such as … “I feel like this is something that I might be good at and want to know if I can do it.” Or, "I want to see my work on the silver screen."
Whatever it is, keep it reasonable - for now.
What do I personally want out of this experience?
The goal here might be “to write a screenplay that elicits an emotional response from the reader - to write an effective screenplay.” (A comedy that makes people laugh, a horror that makes people scream, a drama that makes people cry, etc.)
What am I hoping to achieve professionally?
This could be the simplest to answer. Get practical: “To feel the satisfaction of completing the screenplay that’s been in my head for years”. Or something like, “To get paid”.
Make certain that you answer the questions clearly and honestly. It’s the only way you’ll be able to set those healthy, achievable goals. As the saying goes …
“If you don’t know where you’re going,
then how will you know when you get there?”
While thinking about those questions, talk to yourself about what you want - and why.
Write down those goals and place them somewhere visible. Don’t be afraid of goals. You need them. And, more importantly, you deserve to feel that satisfaction and sense of accomplishment when you achieve them. And you will.
Let’s also take a moment to recognize that the only way to achieve your goals is to be effective. And, as we've explored already, to be effective, you need to know exactly what it is you are trying to achieve. They go hand in hand and heavily influence each other, so keep this in mind and regularly revisit your list of goals.
Finding Your Way
Do not believe anyone who tells you their method of screenwriting is better. Is it surprising to hear that from someone who gets paid to teach and coach? Let me explain:
There is no “best” way to do this. There is no “correct” order in which to do it. There is no “right” process for success. There is no “perfect” methodology that works equally effectively for everyone who tries it.
We’re all different. We all need different things. We think differently. We process information differently. We learn differently.
There is only what works best for you. Which, may be tough to decide until you've gained experience and exposure to several different options. But eventually, you'll find something you like. And, you'll like it because of how comfortable that process is for you and even more importantly, because you are happy with the results - an effective screenplay.
Nobody cares about anything else.
When Starting Out, Explore Everything
So… if there is no “best” method for writing screenplays, how does a new or emerging talent like yourself determine their best practices?
Any system, method or process being touted as the “best” way or the “right” way is lying to you. At best, that may be true for the person trying to convince you of that. What I mean is that their method or process may be what's best for them. It may make the most sense for them and may be the most logical or comfortable process for them. Not necessarily you.
How can they possibly know what’s best for YOU?
Their method may even hurt your chances of success. Maybe their method doesn’t make as much sense to you. Maybe another methodology would be a better fit. That’s up to you to decide - when you have enough experience to know, and when you find something that helps you create effective work.
My point is that you won’t be able to make that decision until you’ve got some significant experience under your belt and have started to develop both …
A unique narrative voice as a writer
and
demonstrable skills as a “narrative architect”.
Do You Know Who You Are - As A Writer?
Knowing that you are at the earliest stages of learning the craft, it’s safe to say that you don’t know who you are yet – as a screenwriter – and logically, you can’t know what methods or strategies are best for you yet.
No big deal. That's completely normal.
And, with that in mind, don’t think that any of these programs, books, courses or videos will guarantee you a clear, straight path to success. It’s not about a single piece of the puzzle. It’s far more complex and nuanced than that.
You are unique. Your journey will be unique and your recipe for success will also be unique. You’ll get there only when you’ve acquired enough:
Information
Understanding
Experience
You need enough Information, understanding and experience to help you write wonderful, effective, innovative, exciting and fresh-feeling screenplays. The Screenwriter Igniter® programs are not all you’ll need to find success, but they're a great start. And, I’m confident they will help you considerably but won't make up for the time it takes to achieve that deeper level of understanding.
No book or chart or course or video can do that. That is up to you.
That is your personal hero's journey.
One Step at a Time
The pathway to success will largely come down to what you do after you’ve learned and assimilated all of this and any other materials you find helpful. Specifically, it will come down to how you apply it to your work and how you use it to write effectively.
This is why you must take it easy on yourself. Just go with what resonates with you. Consume everything you can afford to. Read all the books you can. Visit all the websites you can find. Listen to all the instructors, authors, and professionals you are comfortable with and discard the rest. Because …
Reading all the books and taking all the courses in the world
will not make you a successful screenwriter.
That simply takes time and practice.
In fact, plenty of both.
You can’t be told how to write effectively.
It requires the time and dedication to practice and hone your skills over and over and over again. It takes years. You don’t read a book on how to play tennis and then immediately start competing at Wimbledon.
You work your way up to it over time. To compete at the highest level you need plenty of time and practice. And, if you want to break into Hollywood, you’ll need to be able to compete at the highest possible level. Nobody breaks in if they are merely “good”. You need to be excellent - at being effective.
All “classroom” study can do for you is
help you become familiar with the basics.
Please, do not misunderstand. Classroom study is a good thing. But, it’s not the only thing.
Studying from books or videos is essentially a process of teaching yourself. Self-teaching is very tough. And takes a lot of time and experimentation to make that work.
The fastest way to learn is to be coached or mentored. I don't say that because I do it. I say that because it's true. Performing at the highest level in sports always involves a coach. To learn a complex trade, the norm is to enter an apprenticeship and be taught by someone with experience and insights that help you greatly accelerate your learning curve because you get exactly what you need when you need it. The curriculum is tailored specifically to your needs and you always have access to answers. You never get stuck or go in the wrong direction. This is why the success rates for self-teaching are so low and mentorships are so much higher: it's much more effective.
But, I also know that personalized, 1:1 coaching is not within reach of everyone. So, if you are teaching yourself with books and recorded videos, please be patient with yourself. And start with the basics in whatever form you can.
The basics are critical because you can’t be effective without them. And, my sincere hope is that studying this material will give you an important understanding of the "why"s. Because I don’t believe you’ll succeed until you go deeper than simple memorization and mimicry. You will need fluency and proficiency. You need to understand the "why"s.
Whys such as:
Why do things have to be formatted a certain way?
Why are genre conventions so important?
Why do so many movies seem similar?
Why does that writer use a particular device over and over?
Why do some stories make me respond emotionally when others don’t?
Why are people not responding positively to my work?
Why are loglines so bloody important?
You need to understand all this and much more at the deepest possible level.
Sure, you could mimic someone else’s work and find limited success without a deeper level of understanding, but you’ll never become great at anything without it. And, you'll never truly develop the things that make you special and will help you write stories that only you can write. Until then, you are replaceable. So my hope is that...
