Tag: hard work as a writer

Categories
Screenwriting

Show Business

After I submitted my last screenwriting post, I received feedback for my latest WIP. Although it wasn’t what I wanted to hear, it did provide some key feedback I needed to improve my screenplay.

 Feedback is crucial to writing the best possible story. That’s why I am more than willing to pay for others in the business for their thoughts on my writing. A lot of new writers don’t want to share their work for fear of rejection. However, critical feedback is part of the business of screenwriting and it serves a few purposes:

  • Helps us grow as writers.
  • Helps improve our screenplays.
  • Helps us better understand the business.

As much as we writers like to romanticize screenwriting as an art, we need to understand it is a real big-time business and sometimes a brutal one! As the great Irving Berlin once wrote, “There’s no business like show business!”

Show Business!

Since most of us enjoy our art, we assume we will enjoy show business, but unless you’re a business-minded person, your passion for the art may be snuffed out by the business of being a screenwriter. Although I am new to the industry, I can vouch that the idea of screenwriting has been heavily romanticized.

The belief that you just need a great idea of a story to make it in the business is garbage—ideas are a dime a dozen. There is a lot more to screenwriting than just a great story. That is why there have been so many movies made about show business, there is plenty of drama!

  1. The Player
  2. Sunset Boulevard
  3. Once upon a Time in Hollywood
  4. Tootsie
  5. Barton Fink
  6. Get Shorty
  7. Sullivan’s Travels
  8. Tropic Thunder
  9. Hail Caesar
  10. The Artist

Hollywood is so much of a business, screenwriter and teacher Scott Myers writes a weekly series just on the business of Hollywood. 1 Aside from actually writing, learning the craft and making the right connections are two of the most important parts of the business of screenwriting.

As most of us writers know, the concept of the lone nomad writer is another romanticized myth in the business. Writing is a team effort. And just like learning to dance, we must pick our partner carefully!

Pick Your Team!

As this post goes live I am returning from a writer’s conference where I studied the craft, networked, and pursued representation for my nonfiction writing. Regardless of which area you write, writing is a team effort. So be sure to put your team together carefully.

  • Manager (coach and industry guide)
  • Agent
  • Entertainment Attorney
  • Studio
  • Distribution team

Each of these are a part of your screenwriting journey. These are just a few of the key players you need when working in show business!

Martin Johnson survived a severe car accident with a (T.B.I.) Traumatic brain injury which left him legally blind and partially paralyzed on the left side. He is an award-winning Christian screenwriter who has recently finished his first Christian nonfiction book. Martin has spent the last nine years volunteering as an ambassador and promoter for Promise Keepers ministries. While speaking to local men’s ministries he shares his testimony. He explains The Jesus Paradigm and how following Jesus changes what matters most in our lives. Martin lives in a Georgia and connects with readers at MartinThomasJonhson.com and on Twitter at mtjohnson51.

1  https://gointothestory.blcklst.com/the-business-of-screenwriting-111b5d087f7d

Categories
Writing with a Disability (Different Ability)

Don’t Get Comfortable

My first week home from the rehab hospital, I suffered a seizure. It took days before I could feel the left side of my body. I was terrified. I was afraid all the hard work I had put in was lost and I would have to start all over again.

Turns out it wasn’t a medical issue, but a lifestyle one. In the hospital, I was given a strict diet, mainly drank water, and exercised regularly. At home, I ate whatever I wanted, and drank caffeinated sodas, and exercise was the farthest thing from my mind.

I had become comfortable after my recovery and I let my guard down. When I had a follow-up with my neurologist, the instructions were obvious:

  • Be more nutrition-conscious and drink more water, less caffeine.
  • Exercise regularly to keep my muscles stimulated.
  • Get plenty of rest.

A month after my seizure I began biking. It became an important part of my training to strengthen my left side. Later I joined a local gym and started strength training. Fortunately, the main fitness trainer had experience working with persons with disabilities and he was able to coach me on my journey.

It was then I learned the importance of switching up my workouts. From time to time we need to use different fitness routine to keep our bodies from getting comfortable and plateauing. This keeps the muscles confused which allows them to grow. Medical science has shown that it takes about 6 to 8 weeks to create a routine and 2 to 4 weeks to create muscle memory.

I have three eight-week exercise cycles and halfway through I reverse the weight process. When I tell you it shocks my body, I mean my body is sore and uncomfortable for weeks; which is what I want, because I tend to get bored when I get comfortable in my exercises.

Comfortable?

Being comfortable something we desire in most situations. The dictionary tells us being comfortable provides relaxation and puts us at ease. It’s a goal most of us want to achieve.

Most writers (me included) have certain goals in their writing career they are striving for: fame, fortune, a better lifestyle, or making a mark on this world. I’m sure there are other goals I could mention. Take the time to think about what motivates you to keep writing.

We spend hours at our computers or researching in libraries and sacrifice time with our family and loved ones. It’s human nature to want to get to the top.

A decade ago I had a chance to go to the top of Pikes Peak in Colorado, over 14,000 feet above sea level. While the views were spectacular, I learned an important lesson.

Nothing grows on the mountaintop, no trees, grass, and certainly not flowers. That’s when I realized being on top might not be all it’s cracked up to be.

It can be barren at the top.

It reaffirms that often the journey is more beneficial than the destination. This is why writing coaches and professionals advise us to keep writing. Not necessarily to get our big break, but to keep growing our writing muscles and voices.

As we flex our writing muscles to create stories and articles we work more than just our hands and fingers, we flex the most powerful body part—our brains! Like strength training, training in the craft of writing requires consistent use of those muscles. It requires getting out of our comfort zones.

We can’t become lazy and apathetic just because we’ve reached our writing goals. I am reminded what Christian author Jerry Jenkins said, “In any writer. I look for the –ilities: humility, teachability, coachability, availability, and flexibility.”1

We must keep growing as a writer, which means we can’t become comfortable:

1. Keep learning the craft.

2. Keep reading.

3. Attend conferences and workshops.

4. Find a mentor or guide in the business.

5. Keep being creative.

6. And most importantly, keep writing.

If I don’t continue to exercise, my muscles can atrophy. Lack of use and growth can cause muscle tissue to deteriorate and waste away.

In the same way, how tragic would it be for writers to spend years seeking publication only to let their skills, passion, and creativity waste away?

Stay Rested!

I am not endorsing never taking a break or resting. Rest is integral to muscle growth, this is when the muscle rebuilds itself. Rest helps refresh us. Rest means different things to different people:

  • Sleep.
  • Not working.
  • Reading.
  • Absence of responsibility.

I can be on a bike ride 40 miles out and feel rested. My goal is to keep growing, not get comfortable!

1  Jenkins, J,B 2006 (Writing For the Soul) Writers Digest Books, Pge 105.

Martin Johnson survived a severe car accident with a (T.B.I.) Traumatic brain injury which left him legally blind and partially paralyzed on the left side. He is an award-winning Christian screenwriter who has recently finished his first Christian nonfiction book. Martin has spent the last nine years volunteering as an ambassador and promoter for Promise Keepers ministries. While speaking to local men’s ministries he shares his testimony. He explains The Jesus Paradigm and how following Jesus changes what matters most in our lives. Martin lives in a Georgia and connects with readers at Spiritual Perspectives of Da Single Guy and on Twitter at mtjohnson51.

Categories
Devotions for Writers

Lessons from a Cupbearer

devotions

“So we rebuilt the wall… for the people worked with all their heart.”

Nehemiah 4:6 (NIV)

Nehemiah was a layman in exile, working as a cupbearer to King Artaxerxes. In other words, he was expendable. He drank the wine to be served to the monarch. If it was poisoned by the king’s enemies, the cupbearer took the fall for the ruler. This cupbearer, however, was unique.

Nehemiah had a burden for his hometown. How did he turn his weight into a gate? Nehemiah is known for the extraordinary work he did to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, but one doesn’t accomplish such a feat alone. It took a plan and a band.

Nehemiah is known for the extraordinary work he did to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem

Here’s his sketch:

  • Burden 1:4
  • Prayer 1:5-11
  • Audience 2:1-3
  • Target 2:5
  • Deadline 2:6
  • Resources 2:7-8
  • Research 2:11-15
  • Work 2:17-18

How about you?

  • Do you have a burden?
  • Have you prayed about it?
  • Who speaks into your life? Whose words do you give audience to, in your quest to write? Who is on your team?
  • What is your target? Nehemiah concentrated on one job. The city had other problems, but he didn’t focus on them.
  • Do you have a deadline, self-imposed or from an editor?
  • Have you gathered your resources?
  • What kind of research will you need to do?
  • How will you hunker down to do the work?

In chapter three, the project is divided into manageable sections. How can you measure out the words in front of you?

Learn from a wall-builder:

4:14 Remember your “why.”

4:8-9 Pray against distractions.

4:16-18 Prepare for the unknown.

Do you feel as if your words are expendable? Take a lesson from a cupbearer and refill your cup before your heavenly King. He will set your burden into motion with rewarding work.

Exercise:

What burdens do you carry? Journal your heart’s passion. That is your “why.”

Write a prayer, asking the Lord to show you how to put that passion into action.

Why do you write? This is different than your why, because of the medium used. Put that after the prayer.

What keeps you from following your passion? Brainstorm ways to avoid distractions.

Prepare for the unknown, by eliminating procrastination. Chip away at your project daily until you know you have put your whole heart into it. One day, you’ll look up and see the physical results of your daily build.

Call someone for accountability and become prayer warriors for each other. You will both win!

Over 140 of Sally Ferguson’s devotionals have been published in Pathways to God (Warner Press). She’s also written for Light From The Word, Chautauqua Mirror, Just Between Us, Adult Span Curriculum, Thriving Family, Upgrade with Dawn and ezinearticles.com. Prose Contest Winner at 2017 Greater Philly Christian Writers Conference.

Sally loves organizing retreats and seeing relationships blossom in time away from the daily routine. Her ebook, How to Plan a Women’s Retreat is available on Amazon.

Sally Ferguson lives in the beautiful countryside of Jamestown, NY with her husband and her dad.

Visit Sally’s blog at www.sallyferguson.net

Categories
Create. Motivate. Inspire.

Come Out Swinging: Fighting Fear as a Writer

The writer’s life is not for the faint of heart. There are moments that are downright scary.

That first writer’s conference, critiques, contest entries, appointments with an editor/publisher, the blank page—all potentially terrifying.

If you’re like me, you’ve wasted precious writing time paralyzed by fears and insecurities. But enough is enough. Here are three ways to face our fears head-on:

1—Fight with prayer and the Word of God

Someone once told me: Don’t use the Lord, grow in Him. I took the advice to heart and over the years I realized that my writing flows out of my relationship to God. When my heart is not in tune with His or I’m running from His plans, the words become hollow.

When we are in steady communion with the One who created us—seeking His heart and purposes—we are compelled to use our gifts as an offering. And what joy, to feel His pleasure when putting pen to paper (or fingers to the keyboard).

2—Fight with hard work

Nike may have trademarked the phrase, Just Do It, but they didn’t corner the market on good ‘ole hard work. We must sit down and apply pressure to the little keys with letters on them. We must string the letters together to form words and sentences. It takes time. It’s rarely comfortable.

But the adrenaline rush after a completed page? Pure joy.

3—Fight with a humble heart

We are not the greatest writers who ever lived. The world doesn’t wait with baited breath to hear from us—Oh, if only she/he would put pen to paper, our lives would be complete…    

But…God is waiting to see if we will use our gifts and abilities for His glory. We are accountable to Him for how we spend our time and resources.

Also, we cannot survive on a writing-island. We need other writers. We learn and grow through how God is working in the lives of others.

A quick way to check our writer’s pulse: Are we excited when others succeed or do we resent their progress?

Being an encouragement to other writers is a great way to feed our own souls.

 

Overcoming fear as we put pen to paper is a daily battle—but with God’s help, the victory is ours!

How do you fight fear in your writing life?

 

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