Getting Better As A Writer

YOU HAVE TO ADMIT, IT’S GETTING BETTER

When was the last time you cracked open (or cached into a temp folder) a script you wrote three years ago – five years ago – ten years ago? Did you cringe? Did you magically find an abundance of typos that you’d never found before? Did you want to burn it (delete/reformat/destroy the spinning platters) so it never sees the light of day?

If yes – well, you’re doing something right. You’re still writing. After three/five/ten years, you haven’t given up. You finished a script, started another, finished that one, started another one, and finally you feel like you’re getting the hang of it all – until ten more years pass and you’ll cringe then at what you’re writing now. Here’s a question…

Do you think Quentin Tarantino cringes when reading Pulp Fiction, a film that’s coming up on its twentieth birthday?  How about M. Night Shyamalan? Does he compare After Earth with The Sixth Sense and just think, “Damn, how did I get away with writing that stupid script about a dead dude and a mysterious kid? After Earth is dope compared to this!” Does Wes Anderson hate Rushmore? Is Richard Kelly’s Donnie Darko complete crap compared to The Box?

What is it about the requirement of time that this industry finds so essential, when perhaps, the exact opposite often exists in the lives and careers of the rich and famous?

Don’t get me wrong. More than likely your first three to five scripts are complete garbage. Poorly formatted, on-the-nose dialogue, pages of exposition, full of adverbs like “truly”, on and on, etc., etc. But – that’s NOT to say that the idea, the initial spark, shares the same criticism.

A great concept/story can survive a terrible script. But not unless you possess some extraordinary star quality (like your dad is David Bowie) that will make readers read past it. If you fill out a great idea with rookie mistakes, it’ll be a rookie script. Most people simply don’t have the patience to see through your amateur ability to take a risk. The competition is too fierce.

Writers with no credits have to master the art of the screenplay, in all its formatted glory.  This takes a tremendous amount of time. There are shortcuts to fame – equal to winning the lottery. But you have to put in the time, energy, research, and effort to produce a great script if luck isn’t on your side.

However, what’s great about all of those “dead” scripts sitting on your computer is that they can come back to life. A great idea is a great idea regardless of its formatted context. Dusting off that five-year-old project might just be the perfect blend of resurrecting your child-like passion with the learned sensibilities of being a more experienced writer.

After every page, every word, and every cross of the t…you have to admit, you’re getting better.