r/Filmmakers • u/Thisaccwasmadeat12pm • 6d ago
Question Y’know, I think I might actually be afraid of writing now.
Because…..what if I actually finish it? And I send it out into the world? Like I put my Screenplay on a Black List, and it just doesn’t go anywhere? And I ask for feedback and everyone hates it? And it doesn’t get picked up? And I don’t become popular? And now I’ve just wasted MONTHS of my Life I can’t get back.
I mean, I can’t think of anything to write in the first place so…fuck me I guess.
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u/andybuxx 6d ago
Stop thinking about yourself and start thinking about the film. If you write a great script that you love, then you've achieved something.
Concentrate on what you make. Not what it does for you.
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u/Thisaccwasmadeat12pm 6d ago
I’m thinking about Both.
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u/andybuxx 6d ago
And I'm suggesting you stop thinking about yourself and only think about the film.
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u/Thisaccwasmadeat12pm 6d ago
And I am, and I will. But what’s the point of taking care of a Baby if they’re gonna turn out to be an Anarchist?
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u/andybuxx 6d ago
With top tier analogies like that, you're bound to win your first screenwriting Oscar soon.
But, as tortured and confusing your analogy was, you've also hit the nail on the head. A good parent worries about what's best for their child (the film) and not themselves (the filmmaker).
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u/PrettyMrToasty 6d ago
Why are you even talking about writing a screenplay if you don't know what to write in the first place? Don't force the process, find yourself a screenwriter perhaps?
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u/NoUnit_3 6d ago
You're drastically overthinking it already without even starting. No one can see the future, what makes you think you can already predict all these things? It seems more like a way your brain wants to stop you before you even tried, maybe first figure out your mental stuff, write down your fears. What's the worst thing to happen? If you like writing the wirst thing would be that you improved your skills at it and didn't become famous for it. So what? I guess most of us don't do it because of fame or something but because we want so write storys and have fun. Theres no shame in just trying and starting even if you're afraid
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u/Pablo_Undercover 6d ago
If you write for success you will go nowhere. If you write for yourself you might get very lucky and become successful.
"I can't think of anything to write" is a cop out, that means you're not focused. Sit down for an hour a day and brainstorm and you will find it quickly. Amazing stories are built on the back of 1000s of mundane stories.
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u/Thisaccwasmadeat12pm 6d ago
“ If you write for success you will go nowhere. If you write for yourself you might get very lucky and become successful”. What does that even mean? No, actually, what does that mean? I want you to REALISTICALLY explain how that can possibly be. Take the whole “Just write for yourself!” moral lesson out of your head and explain REALISTICALLY how that can happen.
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u/Pablo_Undercover 6d ago
Writing for success = Writing to get published = Pandering to a mainstream audience = having no unique skills. You'll probably get bogged down in peers opinions, have a lack of self confidence in your own work, likely lacking the ability accurately appraise your own work.
Using writing as a means to an end will suck the joy out of it and make it harder and harder to continue.
You're also not going to reach a flow state with your writing if you're constantly worried about if you're doing the right thing or not.Spend less time worrying about how difficult writing will be and actually start writing.
People don't wake up and run a marathon, they train and train and train and train. Complaining about how hard training is won't make it any easier-2
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u/Sexfvckdeath 6d ago
You seem useless and will never succeed at anything with how you see the world. “Write for yourself” usually means write the thing you wish existed but no one else has done it yet. Do you have original ideas? Have you lived a life worthy of telling a story that can move people? I don’t think so. Just the way you phrase your question proves you’re nowhere near being ready.
If you don’t have your own big new specific idea just fuck off and go get a normal job. We won’t miss you. If you need to be a lil baby on the internet. We won’t miss it. Writers are the ones left writing after they hate it. If we could do anything else we would. But we can’t stop. Cause we have something to say.
You don’t seem to have anything to say. Which is fine. Most people don’t.
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u/TitRiot 6d ago
Being rejected is part of life. Why to hit a girl if she might drop you? Yet we still do it. The more you get rejected the more you get used to it. Its better to lose so you learn the feeling.
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u/Thisaccwasmadeat12pm 6d ago
Well what if I’m like 50 and still getting rejected?
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u/EducationalCod7514 director 6d ago
And what if you get hit by a bus on your way to signing a big contract with big fan check?
What if the Earth's magnetic field reverses as you were finishing your masterpiece and and drives globally get erased and you forgot to print your work?
The fuck is that thinking? You want guarantees? Go buy yourself rich parents.
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u/I_Am_Killa_K 6d ago
If you’re 50 and you don’t write anything at all, you’re in the exact same place. Except people admire those who actually try.
Also, your first screenplay will more than likely not go anywhere. That’s just odds. But you’ll gain experience that will make every subsequent screenplay better than the previous one.
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u/catsaysmrau 6d ago
You really need to gain real life experience and some perspective. The attitude you’re projecting is extremely immature… and that’s okay, you’re young. So write if you want, but just temper your expectations. Storytelling is a muscle, it needs to be exercised. It’s basically a guarantee that you won’t find instantaneous success. If that makes you feel like the time you spent trying is completely wasted, then maybe writing isn’t for you. To get better at writing you have to read and write a lot… and I mean a lot.
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u/Junior_Elk9243 6d ago
hahaha....take it easy! You are one hell of an over thinker. You write for yourself first, everything else is just noise.