100 | 100 Lessons We've Learned About Writing

Yes. That's right. Today we're bringing you ONE HUNDRED lessons we've learned about writing, in honor of...yes, that's right, our 100th episode!!! Enjoy!

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT:

Meg: Hey, welcome to The Screenwriting Life. I'm Meg LeFauve.

Lorien: And I'm Lorien McKenna.

Meg: We are professional screenwriters. We've worked together as a team and separately. We've worked on studio and indie films, live action and animation. From my work on Inside Out and Captain Marvel.

Lorien: To my work in Pixar's story department on Up, Brave, and Inside Out. We are here to share our insights on the craft of screenwriting and also the life. How to not only survive the ups and downs, but thrive. We want to help you become the best screenwriter you can be and to reassure you that you are not alone on this journey.

Meg: Hey guys, welcome back to The Screenwriting Life. Welcome to our 100th episode!

Lorien: So yeah, a hundred episodes all while going through a pandemic together. And of course we owe this to you, our listeners. So thank you.

Meg: So to celebrate, we're going to do something different today. We're going to be sharing a hundred lessons that we've learned about writing.

Lorien: The three of us, Meg, Jeff, and I have brainstormed 33 lessons, and we're going to share them with you, wrapper, rapid wrapper. I'm going to wrap it. Not a good idea. We're going to share them with you rapid fire style after Adventures in Screenwriting, and it will be an experiment, and we'll see how it goes. I expect to be perfect at this.

Meg: But before we get to that, we're going to talk about our first segment, or what we like to call Adventures in Screenwriting. I will also say for the astute listeners, I sound drunk, but in fact, I just came back from the dentist, so half my face is numb. Yeah. So if I have a little weird lisp. You can pretend I'm drunk. That'll be more fun. Lorien, how was your week?

Lorien: I just got back from a family trip or as some people who do not go on family trips call a vacation. Yeah, I am really tired, right? It's that thing of, I thought I was going to have time to write and work on this project and all of a sudden every night it would be 10 o'clock and I'd be like falling face first into my bed. It was really nice. It was really nice to get away and just shut off projects. Of course I was still working and taking phone calls, but it was really nice to be in the sun. All I want to do, Is float on a lazy river. They did not have a lazy river where we went, but that's really all I want to do. I just want to sit in a big inner tube with my sunglasses on float down a lazy river, and I'm trying to figure out what that means in my life, like metaphorically about writing your tired. I am so tired. It means you're tired and that we need to have a screenwriting life. gathering at the local water park and do the Lacey river. That's what I mean. Yes, I am really tired. So yes, Meg, you sound drunk and I sound tired and let's party a hundred episodes style. I think that's appropriate in some ways.

Meg: Yeah. I've been tired, 100 episodes.

Lorien: But I'm back in it now. I have projects in various stages of go and stop. So it's pretty much like it always is. This is gonna go. Oh, it's stopping. This is going. Pause. This is ready. No, it's not.

Meg: That's really screenwriting in a nutshell. Hurry up. No, we're not going to do that. No. Hurry up. Hurry up. No, that's all wrong.

Lorien: How about you Meg?

Meg: I spent my week down in the screenwriting foxhole. I wish I could just write a barf draft, I probably, need to in my brain but I'm just not at a stage that I can do that there's too many moving pieces that have to stay and there's too many people involved. So I need a beat sheet to get everybody on the same page. But it's literally like a Rubik's cube. There are so many moving story elements that have to work together at the same time and look and feel simple. I have all these moving pieces and they have to look and feel simple while, at the same time remaining and becoming emotional. So all of these mechanics for plot and character. and entertainment. And by the way, I have to give a shit about any of it. And it's hard. The truth is, it's just dang hard. I got to that point this past week where I literally like, what is writing? What is a plot? What is a movie? How do you do this? Because I had so many pieces in my head at the same time, I've made charts, I'm trying to keep it together, but I also dropped my son off at college, Aiden. And that was, I did fine until later that evening in my bed, I had a good, it's a pretty big shift transition in your brain to drop your kid off at college. I just was feeling, I guess disappointment is, It's not the right word, he's gone like this amazing human gift I've had in my life for 19 years and my responsibility for 19 years. And that is done. Like he, of course, there's the text. I forgot my water bottle and all, But so it's still my obviously my responsibility, but really he's his own person now and it's gonna go his own life. And I'm a little it was like, Oh my gosh, it's done.

Lorien: Congratulations. That's a big one.

Meg: It's a big one. So I feel sad about it. And I also feel sad that this screenplay I'm writing is so fucking hard. It just makes me sad. It's Oh my God, why is it so hard? But it is. Yeah.

Lorien: So they love me. I think my tired is about grief, right? I let myself have feelings.

Meg: Yeah.

Lorien: Recently I decided not to be mad and I've been feeling my actual like feelings and it's like a lot of loss and it's, And a part of it is around screenwriting, but it's so hard, and Is it sustainable? What am I doing? Just all those big existential crisis, crises, crisis. This is great. Yeah. But the great, it's exhausting feeling your feelings. Oh my God. Like physically, mentally. And I think that's why I'm so tired. Cause I let myself feel something.

Meg: And I know, but I do think the more you allow yourself to feel it, the less tired you will get. Like you're actually, the tiredness is cause you've been spending so much energy, keeping it down.

That when you let it go, you realize how tired you are. That's my opinion. I don't know. Of course, then as we have to keep it down, we got to work.

Lorien: Then I'm like if that's the case, I got to shut this shit down and get back to just working and being,

Meg: Put it in the work, put it in the work, we're sitting here on a screenwriting podcast going, it's so hard. But I want that in a weird way to inspire people because I sometimes think that younger writers, rookie writers think. It's hard for me because I'm not good at it, or this story sucks, or, and it's no, just no. The actual process is complex and hard, and you need skills, and you do get out the other end. You do, where you have this amazing story, and you're so proud, and it feels like you created it with universe, because. Of that toil. It's hard for everybody. That would be one of my lessons, which I've just now poached, but oh all right, Jeff.

Jeff: All right, for audience, as I mentioned, this is an experiment. We've never done anything like this before, but part of writing is brainstorming and having fun and keeping an open mind. We're doing just that with this experiment. Meg and Laureen and I have each thought of 33 I'll say lessons that we've learned in our journey. Obviously, Meg, Lauren, and I are all at different points in our screenwriting journey. So I think hopefully that will inform how we bring lessons to our audience. And I think that's all I'm going to say. We're going to go round Robin style. Meg's going to start. We have up to 30 seconds to share our lessons, but no more than 30 seconds. Meg, your time starts now.

Meg: Okay. Theme or what your story is about has to be emotional. It can't be a social commentary or something intellectual. When you speak your theme, I want you to feel it in your body. And if you don't keep digging for it.

Lorien: Ask yourself why you write and keep checking in about that. I recently did this and all of my answers were from external to entertain, to, get external validation. So I really had to sit in it and it was really hard. And I figured out that I write to tell myself the truth and that is a hard thing to own. So ask yourself why you write.

Jeff: You're making your that's challenging Lorien. Okay. My first one is that writing means you have to write. It's my least favorite thing I've learned, but it's important that if you want to be a writer, you have to actually write. And sometimes I don't want that to be true.

Meg: Do you know what your character wants? Do you know what you want? Can you emotionally own both of those things so that when You talk to me about your writing and how much you want it. And you talk to me about your character and how much they want something in the script. And I don't mean the emotional need, I mean want. They want money, they want the relationship. What do they want? Can I feel that and want it too?

Lorien: It is Okay to want to quit, but keep writing anyway.

Jeff: So as a continuation to my last one, Writing sometimes means not writing. So I know that as writers we feel so much pressure to be writing all the time, and that's part of it. But also remember that writing can mean brainstorming or going for a walk and taking a shower, and that's an inevitable part of the process. Give yourself some grace and enjoy it.

Meg: Writing is hard. Do it anyways. Focus on what you can do, what you're learning, and how you are challenging yourself, and not what you think you should be doing.

Jeff: A great character will take you very far. Sometimes if we're feeling a little stuck in our story or in our plot, we forget that so often a character's arc or the journey that they take in a story can be an essential part of that plot. So let yourself find that great character and give yourself permission to let them help you find the story.

Meg: Why and when do I fucking love your main character? What specific scene, what specific moment have you earned that? No, you may not earn it in the first couple of rewrites, but it's always got to be in your mind. It's always got to be there. I fucking love them. The audience is attached. I get it. And thank you, Andrew Stanton. He taught us all of that.

Lorien: The people you work with on a project are just as important as the project itself.

Jeff: Sometimes writing means actively sucking, especially in those early barf drafts. You'll find yourself finding a scene that you love and then just having to create the connective tissue to get to another scene that you love. And sometimes that will suck and that's part of it. And that's okay.

Meg: Why this antagonist for this protagonist, which was something Jodie taught me when I worked for her As an actress, she wanted to know that she wanted to know. Why is this antagonistic person, force, whatever it is, the thing that is finally going to transform and crack open the main character? Of all the choices that you could make as a storyteller, why this one?

Lorien: Take classes, writing classes. In your genre, out of your genre, acting, directing, drawing, editing, improv, whatever you can get your hands on or get enrolled in. It's such a great tool to be able to see the whole process from different points of view. I think it makes your writing so much better. When you understand all the people and their skills that need to be brought to the table to bring the whole thing to life.

Jeff: Meet other writers. I know a lot of you listening might feel like you're locked in a silo if you're, especially if you're maybe not in a city where there are tons of other writers, but you can always join our Facebook group and find other writers there. But the journey is so much easier if you can know and meet and work with other writers.

Meg: I had something similar, which is find your group. I think finding your writers is certain. very important, but your group may consist of people who aren't writers, but just love to read your stuff and support you. It might be friends, it might be friends of friends, ultimately, because you're moving that group out. All right. So it is, you do need that group of support around you and make sure that you tier that support that you who's in it.

Lorien: I think all of us are searching for the magic key, and I don't think there is one. I think we are the magic key. So investigate all the tools, methods, styles, read all the scripts watch all the documentaries about people you admire who are writers, but then figure out what works for you. That might not work for everybody else or anyone else, and that does not make it bad or wrong for you or them. So figure out what works for you.

Jeff: Watch stuff. I sometimes will meet writers who dream of being screenwriters or writing movies or TV and then I ask them what they like and they say, Oh, I don't really watch TV or I don't really watch movies. And I will say it's so much easier to feel inspired to write if you know what's going on or you find what your inspirations are. So watch stuff.

Meg: To piggyback on that, when you finally go out in the world as a writer, as a pro, and you walk into an office with an executive or a producer, they are going to ask you what you're watching. And they don't mean even six months ago, they mean right now. Why you love it, what you love about it, why that connects to you and your creativity. I don't mean directly, but just what about it that is, that's part of it.

Lorien: When you get to a crossroads in your writing and your script or in your life, pick a direction, make a choice. And move forward, standing still and being stuck. Nothing happens. So move, keep moving, even if it's a little tiny baby step, keep moving.

Jeff: As you're watching stuff, do your best to find what's working about it. And when you find things that don't work about it, take that as a lesson, keep it to yourself and don't go around telling everyone how much you hate a television show or a movie. I will say it can make you sound a little green. If you are constantly talking about how much you hate. Art and you never know who might be working on that art. So keep your criticisms about art private and let yourself learn from them rather than tell the whole world about them.

Meg: Perfectionism and judgment kill creativity. So the next time you're locked in your own judgment or create or perfectionism, it might be time to actively try to be horrible. That's the goal. Suck as much as possible for the next rest of the day. And I might be speaking from experience this week. Maybe.

Lorien: Get to know your characters for who they are and try to let go of who you want or need them to be. They can surprise you and show you something unexpected.

Jeff: Don't panic when it gets really hard. The hard is part of it and panicking will only derail you. So just let it be hard, sit in that and try to help it fuel your writing rather than deter you from writing.

Meg: A lot of female writers struggle with wanting.

They create passive main characters. So start the journey of your own want and keep it as a fire in front of you as a beacon. What do you want as a human being on this planet that is not about servicing anybody else? It's what you want. It's your passion. And then learn that so that you can feel it so that you can Start to let your main character have one too.

Lorien: Try not to compare yourself to others. They are on their path and you are on your path.

Jeff: If you're spending too much time worrying about the we sees or the bolded slug lines or those oft had twitter debates about screenwriting technicalities, you're probably distracting yourself from what matters, which is actually writing. Just keep writing and don't worry about that stuff. You can worry about it later when you're formatting your. your final draft to send out.

Meg: People are naysayers because if you manifest their excuse for not doing it turns to dust.

Lorien: When there is a scene or a part of your story that you are actively avoiding try writing the worst possible version of it. There are different ways you can do this. I find this is really actually fun to write the worst possible version of it just to free yourself. And then it exists! And then you get to rewrite it.

Jeff: Remember to have a point of view as you approach your story. The thing that separates a good script from a great script that may have a similar story is that one of them will have a really strong and sharp point of view that only that writer could bring to that story.

Meg: Stakes. Stakes. Stakes. There have to be stakes to the story. That might be emotional stakes. I hope it's both, but remember, when you're reading your own work, what are the stakes? What is at stake? And do we feel that?

Lorien: Take care of your body and this in multiple ways. Our body is what, we use to write physically. But also if you make an appointment to go to the dentist and you get out of your house and you go to the dentist, you're putting yourself in the way of new opportunities to meet people or learn things. So even something as simple as taking care of your body can be part of the getting out into the world, experiencing life parts.

Jeff: Don't let challenging feedback make you quit. Maybe you're getting tough feedback because they're actually great notes and you need that feedback to make your script better. You might be getting that feedback because someone is trying to sabotage your work or doesn't have the same ultimate goal for the work that you do, but getting challenging feedback is a part of the job and the amount of writers who quit because it's too hard, my heart breaks for them. So don't let challenging feedback make you quit.

Meg: Executives in this game. No, most of them know what they're doing. They're there for a reason. It's really easy as a writer to say that idiot, that asshole. But honestly, most of them have incredible wisdom, not just about storytelling and the art, but also about what their company wants. Part of becoming a pro writer is learning to work with others.

Lorien: Let yourself be vulnerable. Telling the truth can be terrifying, but it is. what connects us to each other and what can connect you to your characters and help them tell the truth so that you can be their voice.

Jeff: You can always get something from a round of notes. I mentioned challenging feedback with my last point. Even if you disagree with everything you're reading, there's something you can pull away. Maybe it'll help you solidify what you actually want to write. Maybe there's just one note in there that's going to shine wisdom on your script, but rather than tossing the baby out with the bat, the bath water, try to find what's actually valuable in any round of notes, because there will be something there.

Meg: Ask yourself once in a while, would I love this and want to see it be part of the audience? I think we can get really wrapped up in the Hows and whys and whats and overthinking, and we forget that it's for an audience. That is always the ground zero of it. It's for an audience. It's a story to be told. So every once in a while just pop back around and be the audience of your own work.

Lorien: Characters reveal themselves through action and choices. That's how we learn about them. That includes dialogue, how they talk, what they leave out, how they talk to people, what they say about other people. So it's not just driving your burning car into a 7 Eleven that reveals something about them. It is what they say when they get out of the car. What do they want? How are they going to get it using dialogue?

Jeff: Structure helps with story. I know we can so often poo structure or hate the idea of being bound by structure or view it as formulaic or robotic, but the reason so many of those long established structures exist is because they're the engine for storytelling. So don't be afraid of structure. Instead, let it help you find your story.

Meg: I have one that's a little bit opposite to Lorien's, which I love, which is film is visual storytelling. Drama from behavior and action. If you're writing a feature film, people are watching what the characters do. People don't come back from the bathroom and say, What did he say? They come back from the bathroom and say, what happened. So keep that in mind. Film is about visual storytelling.

Lorien: The writing process is collaborative. Getting notes, working with producers, executives, editors, artists, actors, directors. So learn how to embrace and navigate this process. Learn how to trust your story and to figure out what to fight for, but then to deal with the big feelings of having to let some of those things go.

Jeff: As an extension of that, try making something, I think it could be so easy to just be locked to the page. And of course, the writing process of filmmaking is what we're most drawn to. But find a director, find some actors, get an iPhone and just try making something because it will teach you a lot about the writing process, even if what you make isn't exactly a success. And it's fun.

Meg: I know a lot of us as writers because we are such vulnerable beings, don't have a hard time trusting, but you are at some point in this process going to have to find someone that you can trust and that you do trust on your journey and with your art and with your creativity. And that can be in all different parts of the process. And that itself is a skill set to find someone to trust and that is trustworthy, but they're out there.

Lorien: Learn to cope with the production restraints and their effect on your vision, like things change in production. It will probably not be what you had in your head, but if you stay in it and problem solve, instead of getting angry or defensive, it could actually turn into something. Better than what you originally were thinking of.

Jeff: Give yourself deadlines. If we don't work to actively discipline ourselves and make deadlines, especially for emerging writers who aren't necessarily on deadline for studios or for managers or whoever might need your material, you have to do it yourself or you'll never get anything done. Even if it means pushing deadlines, which I've been doing with myself for a script that I'm writing now, at least having those deadlines will give you a scaffolding to get things done.

Meg: Usually in early drafts. Your first act is actually your backstory. Don't wait to get the story started. Your midpoint is probably your end of Act One. Go ahead, get the story started. Don't worry that you don't have enough left over. You will. That's why the story is going to evolve and be so exciting. So go ahead and kick us into Act Two.

Lorien: You control the narrative of who you are, so don't let anyone else tell you who you are. You're the boss of you and your story, so if you say, I'm a writer, and you have writing to back it up, that's what someone is going to believe about you. If you say, I suck, I'm not a writer, that's what someone's going to believe about you.

Jeff: Table reads can be a helpful way to hear your material read out loud. Part of that is finding great actors. And I know there can be a hesitancy, especially for comedy writers to fear that their jokes may be falling flat. But at the same time, hearing your dialogue in anyone's mouth, read out loud can be very helpful. So try a table read, especially if you're feeling stuck on your material.

Meg: Most notes trail back to the Act One engine. Just know that they're gonna, if you get notes scattered all through your script, I'm not saying don't think about those, but ask yourself what in this engine of this story could be causing that symptom? What is the disease? Most notes trail back to Act One.

Lorien: Mine ties into that a little bit. So when asking for notes from a reader, be specific about what you're looking for if you're at that stage. And then when someone asks you to read them, ask them, what are you looking for?

Jeff: Watch the kinds of things you write or aspire to write. I know I mentioned earlier, just watching things in general is valuable, if you're someone who's writing feel good coming of age dramedies, make sure you've watched all the big ones from that year. If you write sci fi, but you've never seen a single sci fi movie, that's not going to help you as you work on your material. So make sure you're watching both to steal from egg, both good and bad examples of what you aspire to write.

Meg: You have to get through and write Act 3 before you know what Act 1 is. Everybody can write an Act 1. Act 1s are fun to write! You gotta go through the marshland of Act 2 and get to Act 3 and take a look at what you've got and I promise you your Act 1 will dramatically shift. So get to Act 3.

Lorien: When you're doing a typo pass, do a find for double and triple spaces. You will be surprised how many times You accidentally hit that space bar. And for some of us who learned how to type when double spaces was a thing, right? It somehow just happens naturally, but I have done that and saved quite a bit of space, right?

Page count wise, looking at that.

Jeff: Support your artist friends whether they're writers or musicians or visual artists supporting them is a great way to not only feel inspired in your own work, but create some good karma for you when you need support from them as well.

Meg: Find a way to get comfortable with vulnerability in yourself, in your characters, in the process. And I'm going to talk about that a little bit later, but that is, that's the journey you're on.

Lorien: Getting and figuring out which notes to take is a skill that takes a lot of practice. Who's giving you the note? What is the note? Is it making it better or different? Do you need to rip it all apart or just change a word? So it, it just takes practice. And sometimes you'll be working on a script for a year and realize, oops, I overdid it. And it's. It's a skill.

Jeff: You are a writer, despite not necessarily feeling like a writer or like you're fancy enough or qualified enough to be a writer. You've committed your life to writing. You sit down and write. You are a writer. You're allowed to say it.

Meg: Know and be curious about the psychology of your characters, try to get curious about why people do things versus judging them. The next time someone pisses you off. Instead of going off on your pattern of, ah, that asshole, stop, be a writer and be like, who is that asshole? Why would they have done that? What is the story behind it? What is the psychology behind it? How would that have built? Let yourself have fun and be curious with psychology.

Lorien: We talk about how the first draft will probably not be amazing, so when you read it, after you've written it, focus on three things that you think are working. You have plenty of time to go back and find all the things that are working and to tell yourself how crappy it is, but spend a minute, read it, what is working? Because that sometimes will be the thing that gives you the confidence to keep going.

Jeff: You are not only a writer. So while it is important to establish yourself as a writer in your identity, remember that you're also a family member or a brother or a sister or someone who loves to volunteer and give community service. And all of these are aspects that shape who you are. If the only thing you stake your identity in is your career as a writer, you're going to have a tough time, especially in this business.

Meg: Storytelling is about relationships. Often we don't care who won the game. What we care about is the relationship has resolved or become satisfying or come together. So really think about relationships. I know in my current draft, I'm getting very lost in the plot and the arc and I'm forgetting the relationships is where it all has to be expressed. And that's actually what we care about.

Lorien: Always have multiple projects going on. The project you are working on is not the only project. =You have to have multiple things going on in different stages all the time.

Jeff: Your life experience is your superpower when it comes to you being a writer. The specificity of a great genre thriller is going to be so enhanced by the experience of the writer. Who's bringing their own life to that material. So your experience is your ammunition.

Meg: No one is going to come along and crown you a writer. No one is going to come along and tell you that you are worthy. You write for the stories and the characters. Because you are a storyteller. And on the days you can't find the centering of your worth, you do it anyway.

Lorien: Other people's responses to your work doesn't define you or the work. You can take the good parts of getting external validation within reason, and you can take the parts of criticism within reason, but it doesn't define you or the work. The work is something that you're going to keep doing. working on and you are separate from your work.

Jeff: Writing is often embarrassing and that's part of the journey. When you're getting to the page and having to dig into your lava, this, I think this ties into Meg's a point about vulnerability, but don't be afraid when it feels embarrassing. That's part of it. And that actually means that you're getting into something good. So let yourself be embarrassed on the page. And let yourself even feel that pang of embarrassment when you're sharing your work. I think that's part of it.

Meg: The pros, the people who have won multiple Oscars and have all the cash, their first drafts also suck. The difference is they keep going.

Lorien: This ties into Jeff, what you were saying about having other people read your scripts. If you're not quite there, you can read your scripts. out loud to yourself. You act out the different characters. You put, change body positions for each character to see if it feels real for them. You'll be surprised how many times you can find inconsistencies with dialogue rhythms when you do that. It's really helpful. Also, it's a great way to find typos and missed words.

Jeff: If you're someone who's pursuing a romantic relationship, especially if you're a monogamous person, find a partner who understands the full extent of what it means to be with a writer. There will be certainly things that they're drawn to.

They'll probably be drawn to your empathy or your sensitivity or your taste in art, but they'll also have to understand that pursuing an artistic career comes with challenges. And I think getting on the same page with your partner about that is very helpful.

Meg: It is not go ahead and think about genre. Do it. I know there's sometimes, especially on indie film, it's a pooh poohed thing. Genre. You gotta think about genre. What genre are you doing? Do you know the tone that you're doing? And tone is not plot. And tone sometimes goes with genre and sometimes it doesn't. Think about genre, learn about genre, know the genre you're doing, know the best five and the best worst.

Lorien: Find writer friends that you trust to read, so that you can read each other, give notes to each other, support each other, challenge, and grow with each other.

Jeff: While finding a supportive partner is an important part of the journey, understand that your partner won't always be supportive, and that's okay. Give them the space they need to be annoyed if your script is challenging or you've been wallowing in the depression of a failed act. You don't have to demand that they give you 100 percent of their earnest support at all times. That's part of being in a relationship and that's okay. That's a gift that you can give to both yourself and your partner is that understanding.

Meg: It can take up to five years of working every day to become a pro writer, nobody wants to tell you that. Everybody wants you to believe that you're gonna write a script, you'll write a couple drafts, you'll sell it for a million dollars, look, boom, you're a pro. Anything worth doing, especially a craft that is also an art, is also a business, it takes some time to get those chops.

Lorien: Self knowledge is a really powerful tool as a screenwriter. Learn yourself, like knowing the difference between needing to rest and if you're avoiding something, being able to tell yourself the truth about your actions so that you can keep going or if you really do need rest.

Jeff: Do your best to ritualize your life. I think rituals are a great way to establish discipline. I know it's not easy and the tap isn't always on, but if you know you're sitting down to write every day, especially at a certain time every day, things will show up. Don't be afraid to ritualize your craft.

Meg: Work even when you aren't inspired.

Lorien: Figure out what's important to you in your life and your career. Imagine your future, what you want, what it looks like, who you want to work with, how you want it to feel, and then ask yourself what you're doing right now to have those things. So don't wait until some imaginary future. Start working on the plan for your life and your career now. What step can you take today?

Jeff: Read scripts, read material, especially for Oscar winning movies, right? I think finding a great script, reading through it thoroughly and analyzing it can be like a masterclass in writing. So make sure not only are you watching, but you're reading material, especially that falls in line with what you're already writing.

Meg: Agents and managers are wonderful, but you are in charge of your career. Agents and managers, aren't some magic bullet that's going to come along and boom, you're a writer. And suddenly things are flowing. It is still, they are tools that you use to build what you want. You don't sit home waiting for them to make you a career. Even once you have them, you are out still doing all the heavy lifting and all the hard work of your career.

Lorien: Mind ties into that one. Your reps are on your team. Tell them the truth about what you want and then do the work and then plan with them to help you get there.

Jeff: Even when you know a scene is going long in a draft, just let it go long, see what you discover. You can always edit that scene later. Don't self censor as you're writing, especially as your scenes are going long. That's a part of the journey of discovery.

Meg: This is the advice I gave my son, who's an empath and loves to be vulnerable with people. I had to say, Hollywood, because he wants to come back and work here, is full of psychopaths. So you do have to have some alertness and somebody has to earn that vulnerability in a business setting on the page. The page is earning it as the story, but when you're in a business situation with somebody you, they have to earn it. That vulnerability and you have to take note if they are returning it, are they giving back their own vulnerability? And if not a little warning flare should go up.

Lorien: When you get stuck on the page and you feel that panic of, I can't solve this, I've been hammering on this for a really long time, there's no fix. And that panic of, I'm running out of time. See if you can step back and shift into discovery mode and ask yourself, what if? Take a minute to play. Even if you have to set a timer, okay, I have 20 minutes. I have 20 minutes to see if I can come up with some, what ifs.

Jeff: You can take a day. You should take probably more before signing anything. If you're working with someone who demands that you sign something within a very short timeline, that's a red flag and probably something to consider before you work with that person.

Meg: Everyone has excuses. You be the one with grit.

Lorien: Deals take a really long time to close. This is surprising, right? You get an offer and it can take six months, eight months. longer sometimes to close the deal. And this is also why you earlier point, you need to have lots of things going on.

Jeff: Remember that missing out on social opportunities on behalf of your career is serving yourself and your dream. And at the end of the day, there's really nothing more that you can do to commit to your own life.

Lorien: You will probably in your career have projects that don't go forward. You've just put everything into them. You got really attached to those characters and stories. So give yourself time.

Meg: Expect things to blow up, your stories are going to blow up, and be naive enough to start again and again.

Lorien: When you have something go forward, give yourself time to celebrate!

Jeff: Remember that when you're seeing a movie or reading an award winning screenplay, that's been through hundreds and hundreds of drafts. So don't panic when your early material isn't as good as that material. Those early drafts look just like your early drafts. The difference is that years and years have been spent not only in career, but also even that individual project to make it better.

Meg: Set pieces. Know what your set pieces are. It's fun. I know for some writers that can sound overwhelming. A set piece. Every movie has a set piece in it. Think about what would be in the trailer. And that can be a fun exercise too.

Lorien: When someone invites you to pitch or share your work, do it. Don't let fear get in your way from sharing your work.

Jeff: If you agree to read someone else's material, especially a friend, do it and commit to it.

Meg: Often you first have to fall to fly, which was from a very famous animator trying to figure out how to animate. A hawk taking off, and it wasn't until he realized that the hawk falls first that he understood the swoop of flying.

Lorien: If you need help, ask for it. So reach out to a friend or a mentor, someone you know, someone you trust, who will reflect the real you back to you. Someone who will give you encouragement and challenge you a little bit, but remind you who you are and that you can do it.

Jeff: Succeeding in this business means you have to put yourself out there. That has a lot of different contexts. That might mean your material. That might mean sending that scary email, but you won't find success in this business unless you find the courage to put yourself out there in some capacity.

Meg: There is an ancient wise part of you inside of you where there's no anxiety or spin out.

It's a safe ageless space. Always think of it as the part of me that's connected to the stars. And every once in a while you do need to go sit and connect with that space from time to time. Just to remind yourself of it, that it's there.

Lorien: Be yourself. Everyone else is taken. Oscar Wilde.

Jeff: Matter how much experience a writer has, they always face the blank page just like you. Every single project starts with a blank page.

Lorien: Be on time.

Meg: Thanks so much, everyone, for listening. If you haven't, we'd highly recommend the Screenwriting Life Facebook group. It's a beautiful place to meet other writers and find additional support outside of the show.

Lorien: And we have a Patreon, so you can hop over there and check it out. It's really fun. We do a lot of cool things over there, and we would be excited to have you.

Meg: Stay tuned for future Patreon workshops, dates, and new content coming your way soon.

Lorien: And remember, you are not alone and keep writing.

Jeff: Thanks for tuning into the screenwriting life. We love our community and we want to get to know you even better. Join our Facebook group at facebook. com slash the screenwriting life, or email us at the thescreenwritinglife@gmail.com to have your question considered for the show. You can also suggest topics by emailing us there. Also, we'd love for you to drop us a review on Apple podcasts. Even if we don't read your review on air, trust me, we have read it and not only does it mean the world to us. But, it helps other people find the show. We've always been driven by mission and mentorship, and reviewing our show helps expand that mission. And of course, until next Sunday, happy writing!