Screenwriting - How Many Scripts...

How many scripts do I have to write... before I sell one?... before I am a success?... before I am famous?... The answer to all of these questions is the same... As many as it takes. The key is to believe in yourself and stick to your craft. As the new year approaches we need to check in with ourselves and have a plan for our success. Hopefully that plan includes a commitment to write!

MDJ

Defeat is not the worst of failures. Not to have tried is the true failure.
--George Edward Woodberry

Screenwriting - No Accidents...

It's one of those days that we don't want to write but... we show up anyway. We struggle for a while and then all of a sudden the words begin to flow. We have an amazing writing session and even create a memorable scene, character or line of dialog. The type of writing people quote on the street. It never would have happened had we not shown up for our talent.

MDJ

A discovery is said to be an accident meeting a prepared mind.
-- Albert Szent - Gyorgi

Screenwriting - How Bad Do You Want It?

When we look at our screenwriting goals, we need to ask ourselves... How bad do I want them? Our desire for something has extreme power. How many times have you accomplished something you never thought you could? Today we need to reflect upon these times knowing that our destiny is in our control not others... even when it comes to screenwriting!

MDJ

We are told that talent creates its own opportunities. But it sometimes seems that intense desire creates not only its own opportunities, but its own talents.
--Eric Hoffer

Screenwriting - My Calling

We all have a calling in life. The key is to figure out what it is. How do we do this? Passion is a good place to start. If I have extreme passion for something and I investigate doing it and then enjoy it, I may be on the right track. If time disappears while I am doing something I love... This may be another clue to living my passion. Am I willing to do it for free?... Another great question. We need to take the time to explore and discover our passion.

MDJ

When I'm writing, I know I'm doing the thing I was born to do.
--Anne Sexton

Screenwriting - A Writer Writes...

There is no shortcut to success. We need to practice our craft on a regular basis. We need to stick to our personal writing schedule. When we finish one project. We send it out and begin another. As long as we are practicing our own personal writing cycle success will happen when the time is right.

MDJ

If you wish to be a writer; write!
--Epictetus

Screenwriting - Dream, Do, Have...

Dreams make life exciting. Dreams alone keep our goals out of reach. Action makes a dream reality. Today we can start the process by listing and acknowledging our lifelong dreams.

MDJ


To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe.
--Anatole France

Screenwriting - On Fear...

Fears come up all the time. Our goal is to face them and push on. Fear of success. Fear of failure. Fear of the unknown. Writing can stir up an array of emotions. We push on and let our words heal us while we put our best talent out into the world.

MDJ

Success is always to be found on the other side of fear.
--Anonymous

Screenwriting - Failure Guarantees Success

How many times have I failed in my mind yet continue to write? This is a great question to ask ourselves. Success comes from sticking to our passions despite any and all perceived failures. Today I write with passion knowing that success is in the wings.

MDJ


I've missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed.
--Michael Jordan

Screenwriting - Let Your Talent Do The Walking...

We all have days when our writing just clicks. It seems to flow out of us with ease. This is when the magic happens. Our writing takes us to places we never imagined we would go and enriches our current project. When we have these spectacular writing days our talent is guiding us. What a gift this is. If we consciously appreciate these days we attract more of them our way.

MDJ

For me, writing is exploration; and most of the time, I'm surprised where the journey takes me.
--Jack Dann

Screenwriting - The "F" Word...

A great piece of writing touches us in one way or another. As a reader, we want to feel the emotions we are experiencing. Sadness should evoke tears. Humor... a real laugh not just a smile. This is the type of writing we strive to create each and every day. It makes what we do real.

MDJ

It's better to write about things you feel than about things you know about.
--L. P. Hartley

Screenwriting - What Studios Want...

What do the studios want from screenwriters? This is a question no one can honestly answer. They know what they want when they see it! So, we as screenwriters need to give them the best of ourselves and our talent. And hopefully it isn't the same thing everyone else is doing. We strive to deliver the story that needs to be told and wants to be seen.

MDJ

What we want is a story that starts with an earthquake and builds to a climax.
--Samuel Goldwyn

Screenwriting - Willingness To Dig Deep

How deep am I willing to dig as a writer? The depth of our writing is often reflected to the depth of our person. We are not able to give what we do not have. Writing is more than typing on a keyboard. It is often the ability to know ourselves on the deepest of levels... We need to ask if we are willing to go to a deeper understanding of ourselves?

MDJ

Writing is easy. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein.
--Red Smith

Screenwriting - Writing By Intuition

Our intuition never fails us. The key is to be in touch with it. The challenge for today is to practice using our intuition when writing. How do we do this? We remember a time when we used our intuition in making a decision. We reflect upon that time. What was the feeling? Exploring and getting in touch with our intuition is a form of exercise. We honor our intuition by staying in touch with it.

MDJ


I allow my intuition to lead my path.
--Manuel Puig

Screenwriting - Story Passion

It can be a struggle deciding on which of our stories to tell next. There are many methods to get to the same result... we tell the story we have the most passion for. And, what if I am equally passionate about a few of my stories? Draw one out of a hat. The key is to keep writing!

MDJ

Keep in mind that the person to write for is yourself. Tell the story that you most desperately want to read.
--Susan Isaacs

Screenwriting - Writing Matters

It is a struggle at times when we think that our writings do not make a difference in the world. We matter. Our writing matters. Our lives matter. Everything we do matters.

MDJ


Anyone who believes you can't change history has never tried to write his memoirs.
--David Ben Gurion

Screenwriting - My Personal Success Formula

Reviewing and tweaking our personal formula for success is necessary in the business of screenwriting. No two screenwriters arrived at success in the same way. So... following others may not be the way for us to make it. We need to follow our plan for success. If we don't have one, we might want to get one.

MDJ


Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.
--Vince Lombardi

Screenwriting - Between the Lines...

We know we have arrived when people read our material and all get something different out of it. Having our stories work on a multitude of levels is a gift and one that takes time. We honor ourselves and our craft by doing the work and writing regularly. The more we write the better we become.

MDJ

What I like in a good author isn't what he says, but what he whispers.
--Logan Pearsall Smith

Screenwriting - Trusting The Storyteller

As writers, we need to learn to trust our story to tell itself. We are the conduit and the office employee during this time. When we get out of the way the story will flow through us.

MDJ


I allow my intuition to lead my path.
--Manuel Puig

Screenwriting - Appreciating Challenges

We all have them... challenges. We can fight them or accept them. If we choose to accept the challenges life brings to us, we are in a better place to do something about them. We can take action to confront and overcome those things that challenge our lives. We may find that in doing so, our lives are more enriched in all areas... including our writing.

MDJ

Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome.
--Booker T. Washington

Screenwriting - The Easy Read...

The Hollywood movie making machine loves to find a script that is an easy read. It's that "page turner," the script you just can't put down. As writers, it's our goal to produce this type of screenplay. What does it take to get there? Hard work. Today we can ask ourselves a tough question: Am I willing to put the time in and give the Hollywood reader what they dream about?

MDJ

Easy reading is damned hard writing.
--Anonymous

Screenwriting - I Had That Idea...

How many times have you gone to a new movie and thought to yourself, "Hey, I had that idea years ago... I should have written it." We are gifted with ideas each and every single day. The key is to act on them.

MDJ


Often the difference between a successful person and a failure is not one has better abilities or ideas, but the courage that one has to bet on one's ideas, to take a calculated risk - and to act.
--Maxwell Maltz

Screenwriting - A Blank Piece of Paper

What a gift we writers have. We get to take the blank page and fill it with our thoughts, ideas, beliefs, creativity and inspiration. Today we can be thankful for being a writer.

MDJ

Why do writers write? Because it isn't there.
--Thomas Berger

Screenwriting - Daily Writing Gifts

Each day we practice our craft we are blessed with gifts as to what appears on the page. This is a sign to us that we have been given a talent which we are to share with the world. To avoid sharing it is a tragedy.

MDJ

Writing became such a process of discovery that I couldn't wait to get to work in the morning: I wanted to know what I was going to say.
--Sharon O'Brien

Screenwriting - Basic Writing Skills

When we look at the simple craft of writing the instruments are simple... pen and paper at least. As we progress in developing our craft we need more... At the very root of our writing, we strive to choose a topic that is engaging for ourselves as well as the reader. We can then apply our gifts for delivery...

MDJ

A writer needs three things, experience, observation, and imagination, any two of which, at times any one of which, can supply the lack of the others.
--William Faulkner