Am I a writer or a director?
I have been unsuccessfully trying to write and be a writer for the last ten years. I am definitely not one of those people who write everyday or who enjoy the writing process. I enjoy birthing ideas and trying to figure out ways to play them out. I am constantly coming up with ideas and I love that and thinking of ways to explore different ideas. But I find the actual writing process horrendously lonely and isolating. I am an outgoing person and feel claustrophobic about the writing process. It is always a struggle to get myself to do it and yet I think I am talented.
I went to University and studied screenwriting and have read a ridiculous amount of screenwriting books -– i.e., I’m well educated in the art. I easily hold my own in discussions on plot, structure, characterization and the like. I was complimented as being one of the top talents in my class.
Halfway through my education I took a directing class, loved it, and again received a lot of attention for my work. My teacher said I was one of two people in the program who he thought had a good chance in the industry.
So my question is, am I just lazy? Is writing just hard and lonely and that’s it -– deal with it? I’m starting to think that maybe I should drop the idea of trying to be a writer turns director and just go for the directing, it being more social and working with people and all.
Is there any kind of barometer for this kind of decision? I’m afraid that as a director I will feel that I’m just directing someone else’s (the screenwriter’s) idea.
–Scott
via imdb
Let me rephrase your question in a way that will make the answer obvious:
Dear John,
I hate screenwriting. Should I be a screenwriter? – Scott
You wouldn’t tell someone who hates the ocean to be a sailor, nor an acrophobe to be a tightrope walker. If you don’t like it, don’t do it.
Truth be told, there are times I hate screenwriting, and would rather do almost anything else. It’s a struggle to quit checking my favorite websites and actually get the next scene written. But I really like the life of a screenwriter, and the challenge of putting of a movie on paper. It’s not for everyone, and from what you say, it’s not for you. Which is great. The industry doesn’t need another unhappy screenwriter.
In terms of directing, the vast majority of successful directors aren’t writers. So stop beating yourself up. Get a crew and a camera and shoot something written by a screenwriter who’s happy to be doing it.
Articles
September 22nd, 2006 at 8:41 am
I’ve read that directors don’t want to be directors, they have to be directors. It’s something innate, just the way you are. I firmly believe writers are the same way. It’s not something that you really want to do, it’s something you have to do.
September 22nd, 2006 at 8:49 am
Or since he finds the isolation interolable, he could just get a writing partner…
September 22nd, 2006 at 8:57 am
The slightly obvious solution would be to develop the idea (plot, characters, scenes, framework) and find a screenwriter who can do the heavy word lifting for you. I almost wondered if George Lucas was lurking here. One of his best works, the Empire Strikes Back, was effectively all his, but he hired a writer and a director. When he went back to writing/directing, the results unfortunately demonstrated that his talents don’t lie in either of those roles.
September 22nd, 2006 at 9:06 am
I don’t believe in the idea that writing is destiny. That would mean fate chooses your occupation. I choose my occuptation. It’s not like Shai’s hand reached from the heavens and handed me a pen (or laptop). If she had one would wonder why she handed the other guy a key to a 7/11 store. The point is that it makes screenwriters out to be some select group with a higher purpose. I’m all for empowering writers, but let’s not elevate a very earthly craft to something mystical and ethereal (same goes for directing). Oh, and Scott, don’t be so down on yourself…
September 22nd, 2006 at 9:36 am
You don’t have to think of it in terms of fate. You could think the same thing in terms of temprament. For me, I do write because I have to. Now, it’s not my career because fate decreed it. It’s my career because I worked/am working hard to achieve that.
But even if I failed completely at making it my career, I enjoy the writing so much that I would continue to do it even if the financial aspects were taken out of it. If not as a career, than as a hobby for certain.
That’s what it means, to me, that I “have to” write. I do have to write. I don’t necessarily have to do it for a living. Being able to is a bonus.
September 22nd, 2006 at 9:56 am
Ryan: Exactly! You love writing. So do I. Stephen was talking about people who DON’T want to do what they do but have “have to”. Implying a sort of martyrdom destiny higher purpose self-immolating sorta thing.
September 22nd, 2006 at 12:10 pm
Johnny, sorry I was misleading. I wasn’t implying that people write simply because they have to. After I had pressed submit I immediately though I should have added the line: “However, most of us do love writing.”
I do write because I “have to” write as a result of loving to write.
September 22nd, 2006 at 4:10 pm
Hey John, am I still on the shit list ? I want to come back onto the play-ground !!
-freddie
September 23rd, 2006 at 1:28 am
To me, these all sounds like feelings shared by a lot of the screenwriters. screenwriters like to make up ideas and plots. putting them on paper is a bitch. planning is fun. construction is lonely and sometimes technical. there was an excellent post on the artful writer called “page fright” about this issue just this month. am I also wrong? do you really enjoy the page press stage?
I switched a number of careers in my lifetime. each time i switched i hated the new one just as much. then it hit me: could it be I just hate careers?
September 23rd, 2006 at 11:05 am
Writing can be a miserable process, but if you’re able to NOT do it, then don’t. It’s a cliche, but I write because I have to. I could never be a director (not that anyone’s asking) because I don’t feel any sort of burning desire to do so. I just want to write.
September 23rd, 2006 at 2:58 pm
Let ME re-phrase Scott’s question:
“I am extraordinarily gifted. What should I do?”
My answer: “Feel fortunate. Make a decision for yourself.”
Poor Scott. It must be terrible to have so much talent but be unable to make a fairly simple decision. It’s not like writers don’t become directors (John August and “the movie”)and actors don’t become writers (Tom Hanks and That Thing You Do). I am sure that a director who wrote a screenplay would not be precluded from shopping it around and getting it made. Didn’t Kevin Smith write and direct Clerks?
Maybe I don’t know something about the industry. Is the film industry like healthcare? Once you are licensed as a doctor you cannot practice dentistry without starting over. Is it the same for writers and directors?
Fred
September 24th, 2006 at 9:45 pm
March 11th, 2007 at 9:15 pm
I should say I have a mixed feelings about writing.
When I was young, I was asked to write things by course and teacher assignments. It was hardly enjoyable, because I worried about it a lot, and could not sleep well, and often sat late into night in oder to complete a composition. Because of such experiences, I decided that writing was not for me. So I chose science during high school.
However, by who knows what, I entered college and studied English (I am not a native speaker). I had to write a lot of things in English as a second language for many courses. During one writing course, the instructor, an America young women, encouraged us to write personal journals. This time, writing became much more enjoyable.
Yet, later, I still decided to persue a career in software programming. I initially liked programming because in the beginning, it seemed not to require lots of interpersonal communication with other people. Of course, I now know that programming too requires a lot of talking and discussing between different people.
I also gradually realized a bad thing about programming, that you have to follow other people’s thoughts while you are using the programming languages that they devised or if you are doing your work based on other people’s programs. Reading other people’s code is the most horrible part of programming. Also, trying to explain one’s code to others is the second horrible part.
So, with so many experiences, I have to say, compared with programming, writing is a far more free way of self expression. Plus, you can always change it unless you are satisfied yourself. Also, a piece of writing also lasts far more longer than a program.
Yet it seems that being a professional writer can incur many pressures as well. So, I guess, the best solution is to find a easy and idle job. For example, you just need to be there half a week. Or if you are there, you don’t need to do much. And, you can use the free time to write.
Isn’t that great?
March 24th, 2007 at 9:55 am
It’s not fate?! It’s not destiny?! Oh, but isn’t it, though?
Let’s see… (cracks knuckles) When I was 3 I started drawing and still do it feverishly, every day; in 4th grade, I began writing horror stories and then exclusively cartoons in the 5th grade; I’ve been doing voices and impressions since before I can remember doing them; in middle school, I wrote 2 screenplays, one of which won me first place in a county-wide writing competition (nice trophy); in 7th grade I began playing piano and then went to a high school for the arts where I continued my musical studies and participated heavily in the drama program; I majored in Piano for a while at the University of Miami before I changed to Broadcasting; and I also had the opportunity to work in a recording studio since I was 15, affording me 15+ hours of my original music to be recorded.
So what the hell am I supposed to do with all these random and seemingly unrelated talents? Oh! I forgot to mention that I love cartoons so much it’s abnormal. I only watch cartoons, and very few live-action movies and shows (and those are only the truly special ones). So, being so overly enthusiastic about animation, I guess you could say it WAS my destiny to have my own cartoon show, something I wanted since I started drawing at 3. It’s impossible to ignore the irony of all these talents and gifts I hammered at all my life, and how they amount to the perfect formula for running your own cartoon show: I design all the characters, I do all the voices, I write all the scripts, I executive produce, and I compose, mix, master, and edit all the music. (I’m certified in Avid but fuck that shit.)
If it isn’t destiny, and I didn’t feel like I HAVE to make a cartoon show, then I now have no idea what is and isn’t logical, and I guess this background amounts to me being… an accountant?
May 15th, 2007 at 1:36 pm
Does anyone notice how many people want to declare themselves to be auteurs? Isn’t that in reality, a genius-level undertaking and the automatic assumption that it is “easy” an invitation to labelled a hack?
I write and act, but I would be absolutely mortified to be straddled with all the decision making responsibility of being the big boss on the set..
It’s a lot of hats to wear I think, you would have to have a good understanding of every craft taking place on the set- cinemotography, set design, editing, etc, etc… and not to mention thorough understanding of film theory.
For the exception of those like Arronofsky and Lynch, how many excellent writer/directors are there out there right now?
Well, John I haven’t seen The Nines yet, so I am still wondering about you..I’m sure you could be an auteur.
Writing and acting seem to be me more compatible for me, I would rather allow a good director who is open to collaboration to interpret my work through their lens-so things that don’t work can be avoided. Perhaps that’s humility speaking.
August 17th, 2007 at 9:01 pm
Hey everyone…I’m one of those guys like Sir Mike…love music, acting/voice overs, writing and drawing, and I’ve been developing concepts for TV shows, cartoons, movies and toys for a long time… Right now I work in an advertising agency’s creative department and I hope that this business will embrace me.
I always wanted to write movie scripts but I’ll be happy doing commercials too because I always have those moments where I say “This would make a good commercial!” and I want to make those ideas reality! I also love to write hip hop songs with a childish twist like the one at http://www.youtube.com/mrgongreen That’s me rapping and I made the beat as well as wrote the lyrics…I love being creative and I know that if I do what I love and stay true to my values I will be rewarded (sometimes I feel like I’ve already been). Anyways I’m rambling but I want everyone to know that if you were here in the same room with me right now we’d probably all be friends by the end of the night I think the hardest part of being a writer/artist is finding the right mix of people to hang out with. Sometimes I feel like doing stand-up comedy just so I could find time to really open up to people…Life is too busy to enjoy…so just enjoy being busy!
September 14th, 2007 at 9:30 pm
As a writer of more than 500 articles on a food and wine web site, this is the first place I felt like participating concerning the writing process. So, here goes.
For three years, I wrote a newspaper wine column (for pennies) and then took of a year off from the daytime job to complete a feature-length screenplay titled “The Wine Associate”. Much of it was based on the wine retail industry and my job as a wine associate. When I entered it into an international screenplay contest sponsored by Writer’s Digest, I received a letter of recognition about a year later. It is now inventory.
The next project, a collection of non-fiction wine stories, was passed over by a leading wine book publisher about a month ago because of its similarity to another wine writer’s book which was not a commercial success. The book took six years to complete.
Just as I was about to give up, I received an invitation from a new publisher to read the manuscript completely altered and with major changes to the storyline. This month I feel encouraged. So, even when you think you can’t write another word or pitch one more new idea to someone, something good happens like finding a new publisher and johnaugust.com. My advice to doubtful writers is to take a deep breath, pour yourself a glass of wine and believe that ultimately you will succeed. And, it doesn’t hurt to get your resume out there either. Networking brings results.
As long as you keep writing, you will figure out how to market your work and without losing your soul. Just keep working at your craft.