I had a conversation a few days ago with an aspiring screenwriter who spent a good part of an hour telling me about all the ideas he wants to put in script form. His excitement was followed by confiding about his feelings about all the horror stories he hears and the cynicism that shows up in articles and even books on the subject of the film business and specifically the world of Hollywood. That was a prime example of the conflict between a passion for the craft – A yearning to release the stories the writer carries - and the realities of the movie business. Are those two worlds really in conflict or is it just a matter of viewpoint?
The analogy that comes to mind, from my personal experience with the writing process and specifically screenwriting, is one of the stages of life. If we consider our screenplay a personal creation then it goes through the stages of its own life and just like each one of us eventually dies no matter the successes or failures it encountered during its lifetime. At each stage of a script’s life our focus and attitudes – as creators - have to shift in order to maximize the chances of success in that specific stage. I picked out six distinct stages.
Conception: The germination of the high concept, the idea, the story with its beginning, middle, and end. At this stage we are not quite sure yet if we want to go ahead with our creation. All we have to go by is our own hunch and maybe feedback from the people around us. Whether we are professional writers or just beginners we have to assess our capacity to carry the idea to full development. We have to be honest with ourselves and take an inventory of our skills, talents, technical and emotional capacities. It is similar to the young couple trying to assess whether they can handle having a child and raising it in a healthy manner. Our honest recognition of what’s missing, what kind of help we need, and whether we’re ready for the journey makes all the difference in how the journey unfolds. Our focus at this point should be whether we’re willing to go through with the creation and get the needed help we need along the way.
Creation: This is when we put word to paper. The process of creation is one of meticulously putting the pieces together. Brining our characters to life and making them compelling to our readers. Having a strong plot and structure and experimenting with different worldviews and approaches. This is the time to make mistakes and learn from them whether we are a pro or not. Like a parent who is not quite sure how to deal with their child and who tries different approaches to figure out what works best for their specific dynamic and situation. The focus should be solely on creating and striving to set a solid foundation for our creation and nothing else.
Nurturing: This stage takes patience, resilience, willingness to learn and grow, and really a lot of love for the creation we are developing and compassion for ourselves. Haste, impatience, carelessness, and fear can only lead to a destructive outcome. Nurturing also takes commitment that should have been made clear at the conception stage. Are we going to see that this child grows into a healthy adolescent or are we going to neglect it and allow it to either meet an early death or just drift into dysfunctional oblivion which is an even harsher form of death? This is the long dark tunnel we go through where we can only do our best and hope that our commitment will pay off.
Maturity: Eventually our creation matures into a completed piece that we edit and fine tune. During the nurturing stage we most probably received help through critiques, teachers, and colleagues. At this stage we are putting the final touches and declaring our work complete and ready to go out and meet the world. It is the child just graduating high school or maybe college and getting ready to test their value and potential in the world. At this stage we not only try to perfect our manuscript but we also prepare the groundwork for its acceptance in the world by connecting with people and organizations that could help promote it and make it visible to the industry. This is a difficult and grey area where even when we get assurances of acceptance, it is still not guaranteed.
Release: After all the work and preparation is done we have to release our manuscript physically and emotionally. Whether we submitted to agents, studios, or contests, its fate is no longer in our hands. The work has to stands on its own and either be accepted and embraced or slowly drift into oblivion. There are no guarantees, just as in life, but that never stopped anyone from living fully and giving it their best shot.
Death: Whether our work is accepted and maybe wins an Oscar or just disappears in the bottom of agent’s bottom drawer, eventually it dies. It slowly fades from our memory and the memory of those who were involved in its creation. Just like outstanding people, outstanding works die but remain as lessons for future generations. They are what we call the classics. This is a stage we must accept no matter the outcome of our work.
At each stage of this lifecycle the writer must focus on one thing at a time and eventually let go and move on to the next challenge. So my answer to my aspiring screenwriter friend is to worry about the immediate concerns at each stage and to learn throughout the process, but make sure he moves to the next stage and not get stuck forever in one spot, after all life is too short and death awaits us all … Eventually.
