Okay, so you just finished your latest spec feature screenplay or TV pilot. Congrats! You’ve probably been on a long journey of insecurity, criticism, and possibly rejection, but you also experienced creative highs and breakthroughs that you’ve never imagined before. When the writing became difficult, you didn’t avoid the work, but marched head on through the trenches and communicated your complete vision onto your pages. During your latest quest to conquer your inner demons, you may have solicited feedback from your trusted inner circle: your group of screenwriting friends, a consultant, your agent or manager, or even your significant other. They generously helped with constructive notes that allowed you to zero in on your new draft and you finished on a high note. You’re now confident with the material and ready to unleash the script upon the industry without any reservations.
If you find yourself in this situation, you’re in a rare and special creative place for writers — the precious period when we’re completely satisfied with our work also known as being “written out.” We’re temporarily immune to the biting sting of criticism and our creative high protects us with confidence. We know that we’ve done our best work, and we cannot possibly write or create anything better at this moment. We are writing at the top of our game and it’s a precious feeling. Savor it because it fades quite fast.
You now unleash the script upon Hollywood with confidence in your work. Time passes and you receive feedback from a handful of producers or executives and of course, everyone has an opinion for a myriad of reasons. Maybe they dislike your genre? Maybe they already have a project like yours in development? Maybe their last project flopped and was similar to yours? Their opinions could have nothing to do with the quality or your work but might come from their business considerations or personal bias.
You certainly had high expectations going out with your latest project. The disappointment from feedback can feel like it’s a rejection of your talent and ability. If you allow it, your skewed perception of failure can open the darkest places of fear and insecurity in your creative soul. As writers, we must do our best to block these insidious thoughts. They can become feelings and if we believe our feelings are true, a false reality can sink our efforts. This latest criticism can send you looking for more validation and that leads straight into the hell of chasing screenplay notes. At this point, you’ll listen to anyone and everyone because you have lost confidence in your work. You’re on the ropes and have no idea what’s good or bad anymore. Out of insecurity, you give your screenplay to a few more friends hoping they’ll side with you and prove the producer’s notes are ridiculous. The problem is now you’re stumbling through dangerous territory, vulnerable and without a protective shield, as you open yourself up to even more criticism and opinions.
You already went through this process early on and crafted what you thought was your best work. How did your opinion waffle and collapse so easily? It’s because you doubt yourself by thinking, “How could I have been so wrong? I was so confident that I was working at the top of my game. How could they not like the script? Where did I go wrong?”
Time passes. Your friends finish reading your script as you sink deeper into the torment of self-doubt. What if their notes are similar to the others, or worse yet, what if their notes are completely different? This opens a new series of issues, and now you don’t even know who to believe or trust. You certainly don’t trust your own opinions. You’re now officially stuck chasing screenplay notes. During this vulnerable period, it can take just one person’s unfavorable or offhanded comment to drown you in an ocean of self-doubt. You must stay strong and consider every note for what it’s worth. Five different people will have five different opinions about your script, but if they’re all the same notes about the same issues, then you should seriously consider their opinions. But if they’re all different notes, and everyone thought your script was well-written, stay on course. Take the notes you can use and discard the rest.
If you waffle and lose your confidence, you’ll make changes based on one person’s comments… and then another person’s opinion… and change something else because another person didn’t like one aspect of your script, and suddenly you’re dismantling your story and chasing notes like a dog chasing its tail. If you’re all over the map and losing your original vision – both you and your project will suffer.
I’m not suggesting for you to completely shut out feedback on your script, but once you’re confident in your work and satisfied with your execution, close the door on any new notes. This is when you must put all notes into two categories: constructive notes that help you to effectively tell your story, or more personal notes from those who tell you how they would have done it differently if they wrote it. If you want to stay true to your original vision, stay on target and filter every note with a bigger perspective. The most important notes will help you craft a better screenplay and that will open up new opportunities. Listen to notes from your agent or manger if you have one because they spend their days in the trenches and hopefully will try and help your project in a competitive marketplace.
I had my original TV pilot out in the marketplace, and I was completely confident with the script. I worked on nine drafts over eight months and would only make changes if a producer or company options or buys it. My mandate does not come from my arrogance but confidence and total satisfaction in my execution of the script. I trust it represents the best version of my story and my best writing to date. My manager at the time believed in the project and never suggested that I make new changes based on any specific feedback. That would be chasing notes. In fact, I’ve been blessed with the feedback that I received so far, and it has been extremely positive with every producer responding well to my writing. Sure, we all hope for a sale, but selling a TV series is truly like winning the lottery. So, if you can add fans to your writing and open more doors with your latest material — writing the pilot was worth the effort. That script continues to highlight my ability and talents in the TV medium. That’s hard enough to achieve when you’re sending around a spec script in Hollywood.
A career does not happen overnight, and part of your journey is becoming a better writer and finding your unique voice— one that producers will grow to love, trust, and hopefully hire you to write a screenplay. You’re in a good place when you’re completely satisfied with the release draft of your script. Do not chase notes if you’re confident that it’s the best of your ability at that moment. A deep satisfaction and confidence come from knowing that you’re finished. Any new changes will require a producer or executive to come on board and buy it. Trust me, there will be plenty of notes when your script goes into development. At that time, you will gladly execute them because you’ll be working under a contract and being paid. That’s the plan, right?
Copyright © 2024 by Mark Sanderson excerpt taken from “A Screenwriter’s Journey to Success”. All rights reserved.
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It’s a long haul journey to reach any level of screenwriting success. If your passion drives you to embark on this crazy adventure of a screenwriting career, you’ll need to prepare for survival in Hollywood’s trenches. Talent is important, but so is your professionalism and ability to endure criticism, rejection, and failure over the long haul. The odds may be stacked against you, but the way to standout in this very competitive business is to create a solid body of work and build a reputation as a team player and collaborator. The rest is just luck — a prepared screenwriter who meets with an opportunity and delivers the goods. “A Screenwriter’s Journey to Success” (2024 updated edition) will help you prepare for your own journey with the necessary, tips, tricks and tactics that I’ve developed over the past twenty years of working in the film industry. It’s time to start living your dream as a screenwriter in Hollywood.
“You must write every single day of your life… You must lurk in libraries and climb the stacks like ladders to sniff books like perfumes and wear books like hats upon your crazy heads… may you be in love every day for the next 20,000 days. And out of that love, remake a world.”—Ray Bradbury
“Writers, like most human beings, are adaptable creatures. They can learn to accept subordination without growing fond of it. No writer can forever stand in the wings and watch other people take the curtain calls while his own contributions get lost in the shuffle.”—Rod Serling
“The well is where your “juice” is. Nobody knows what it is made of, least of all yourself. What you know is if you have it, or you have to wait for it to come back.”—Ernest Hemingway
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