Friday, July 11, 2014
Runaway Bride...uh, Writer
I figured out the source of my writer's block. I'm running away from my feature because in all honesty, I don't think I can do it. Isn't that just wonderful? (Please tell me you noticed the sarcasm. Apparently, when I try to be sarcastic, no one notices.) Screenwriter William Nicholson (Les Miserable) said that in order to be a professional writer, you have to have such a big ego that you think you are god's gift to literature. But you also have to be humble enough to accept criticism and not be a jerk. Enormous ego vs. humble acknowledgement of your faults. Great combination, right? (Did that sound sarcastic? No? Drat.) But it's true. Deep down inside, I know that I've never gone through the full revision process with a 100 page feature film, so naturally, I assume that I can't do it. Self esteem issues abound in writers. But when I start thinking that way, I also realize that's so ridiculous! By that same logic, anything that I haven't tried before is automatically impossible. Like teaching seventh graders for three yeasr, or presenting at a writer's symposium to a full house, or being a finalist in a screenwriting contest. I did all of those things, by the way. ALL of them, and I could go on for hours. So I better start telling myself that I'm a genius at features so I can get the script done. But the other thing that freaks me out is the time crunch. No way I can pound out draft 2 in 12 days, right? But if Handel can write The Messiah in 24 days, maybe a 100 page script isn't too bad in comparison.
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