• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

John August

  • Arlo Finch
  • Scriptnotes
  • Library
  • Store
  • About

Like banging a chainsaw against a tree

January 16, 2009 Rant

As a guy who runs a blog about the nuts and bolts of screenwriting, I sometimes get frustrated by aspirants who only want to dip their toes in, or believe they should be able to have a thriving film career in Duluth. The don’t want to commit fully to the form or the craft.

A comment (#6) on an article about Objective-C programming had a good simile for this situation:

It is like I showed a chain saw to a early American colonist, and he said, “Can I cut down the tree without starting the engine? I don’t like the noise. Maybe I can just bang it against the tree?”

UPDATE: More discussion here.

Related Posts

  1. Depression on film
  2. A new year, new technical difficulties
  3. Whether or not to American-ize

Primary Sidebar

Newsletter

A weekly-ish roundup of stuff we've found interesting delivered right to your inbox.

Read Past Issues

Explore

Projects

  • Arlo Finch (27)
  • Big Fish (87)
  • Charlie (39)
  • Charlie's Angels (16)
  • Chosen (2)
  • Corpse Bride (9)
  • Dead Projects (18)
  • Frankenweenie (10)
  • Go (30)
  • Karateka (4)
  • Monsterpocalypse (3)
  • One Hit Kill (6)
  • Ops (6)
  • Preacher (2)
  • Prince of Persia (13)
  • Shazam (6)
  • Snake People (6)
  • Tarzan (5)
  • The Nines (118)
  • The Remnants (12)
  • The Variant (22)

Apps

  • Bronson (13)
  • FDX Reader (11)
  • Fountain (32)
  • Highland (71)
  • Less IMDb (4)
  • Weekend Read (33)

Recommended Reading

  • First Person (83)
  • Geek Alert (145)
  • WGA (121)
  • Workspace (19)

Screenwriting Q&A

  • Adaptation (66)
  • Directors (90)
  • Education (48)
  • Film Industry (480)
  • Formatting (128)
  • Genres (90)
  • Glossary (6)
  • Pitches (29)
  • Producers (59)
  • Psych 101 (117)
  • Rights and Copyright (95)
  • So-Called Experts (46)
  • Story and Plot (170)
  • Television (161)
  • Treatments (21)
  • Words on the page (236)
  • Writing Process (177)

More screenwriting Q&A at screenwriting.io

© 2021 John August — All Rights Reserved.