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This week's Answer: Screenplay
Without End Arthur, I
really do appreciate you contacting me. I'd like to
write to you, but I have an endless number of
e-mails to write before I can get to you.
Wait. I'm already writing to you. Well,
okay then.
Here's my answer, dear Arthur.
It
is endless.
Sorry to
disappoint. But it's the truth. Screenwriting,
just like many of our daily activities (or nightly if
you're a night owl -- and, if you are, I feel sorry for
those mice), is endless. Until it ends, that
is. If you can accept that fact, work with that
fact, embrace that fact, make that fact work for you,
then you've got it made in the sun (which is endless, too
-- well, at least "billions of years" endless).
One thing that you can do is to
reward yourself when you reach a certain milestone such as
finishing a script. That's... no little thing.
You could reward yourself even before that. Like
when you type "FADE
IN:". Or "FADE
OUT." Either one will do. The
point is that you typed the word, "fade."
That's what counts. No, that's not it. The
point is that you're moving forward. That's
it. That's the point. And you know what an endless
bunch of connected points make if they all go in the same
exact direction, don't you? A line. And lines
are important to follow to get to your next destination,
and to avoid getting in if you're in a hurry. I hope
that clears everything up.
I don't think that cleared anything
up. What I'm trying to say is that if you're going
to continue to be a screenwriter, you'll move down that
"screenwriter's line," which is made of many
points, points that you will have to travel through.
Endlessly. Well, not endlessly. But, if you're
serious, you'll be screenwriting for a long time. So
you might as well get used to it. But go easy on
yourself. Take breaks. Be with friends.
Take long walks on the beach or in parks.
And watch the endless sun set.
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