3 Easy Things To Do To Become a Successful Screenwriter
- Sep 20, 2014
- 3 min read
In his book, the Outliers, Malcom Gladwell famously wrote that to master any skill you need to practice it for 10,000 hours. Gladwell uses the example of the Beetles who played over a 1,000 shows in Hamburg between 1960 and 1964. It was these shows that honed their skills to become the most successful group of all time.
Bill Gates who spent 10,000 hours tinkering with programming as a high school kid which he used to become the richest person in the world.
For most people it takes roughly 10 years of doing something 20 hours a week to pass this 10,000 mark. For screenwriters that is a lot of time spent alone with nothing but you, a blank page and a computer screen. It is emotionally exhausting and there is plenty of room for self doubt. It isn’t easy. It takes, above all, discipline.
But knowing the key to becoming successful is only a matter of time is also liberating because it becomes success then becomes a numbers game. You don’t need to be that smart. You don’t need to know a Hollywood star. You just need a computer and the ability to learn.
Experience Vs. Naturual Born Talent
You might ask what about natural born talent? Surely you have to take that into account. Of course Mozart, Michelangelo and Shakespeare were born geniuses and perhaps you’ll never reach that level but writing a good screenplay isn’t rocket science. It’s a craft that can be learned.
Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all time, has a body just made for swimming. His legs and arms are huge which gives him a natural advantage over other swimmers. You can just look at him and see he’s extremely athletic. But what you might not know about him, is Michael Phelps also started to swim at the age of 5 and by the time he was 11 he was swimming every single day for 5 hours including his birthday and Christmas.
Screenwriting is Poetry
Most screenwriters get lured into thinking that screenwriting is easy. I always acquaint screenwriting more like poetry than writing a book. Both have a very specific form and structure.
Poetry, like screenwriting, is easy to do. But hard to do well. And I think that is where most writers fall into trouble. With books you see the sheer number of words on the page. It looks like hard work. Screenplays have all this blank space in them and novice writers fall prey to those white spaces.
Anybody can write lines and actions but to captivate an audience you need to write a beginning, middle and an end. You need to write interesting characters with strong motivations and that change during the allotted 2 hours of screen time.
Did you know that Ron Bass, the screenwriter for My Best Friend's Wedding and Rain Man worked up to 14 hours a day? That is dedication to the craft. That is what it takes. You need to think of it not just as a hobby but a craft.
Become Mentally Fit
How do you ignore those negative voices? I know some days it seems like you'll never get to the place you want to be. I'm not sure if it's any comfort but everybody feels that way sometimes, even the most successful screenwriters. I recommend reading Steven Pressfield's book The War of Art. He knows more than most about the battle it takes to reach the level of mastery.
You need to train yourself, just like you're running a marathon, breaking it up into small mental chunks. You need to become mentally fit. Start out with several positive thoughts and with positive visualization and don't worry if, at first, self doubt wins the day. Start again tomorrow and continue positive reinforcing yourself. It will really change your outlook on life and help you in climbing that 10,000-hour moutain.
Good luck and happy writing!
Joel Mark Harris is a writer, producer and journalist. (@joelmarkharris) He is the proud founder of Scene2Studio and you can download FREE his award-winning thriller A Thousand Bayonets HERE
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