The Spec Screenwriter's Life

Success for any person working in the arts would probably mean that their art or their work has been recognized. This may come in the form of money, an award, acknowledgement or an admiration of their work by fans or someone who is in a position to further their career.

For me, as I continue down this uncharted road, everything that has happened to me has been a new experience. When I started, I knew it was going to be a tough row to hoe. I am a nobody from nowheresville who knows no one and has done nothing. That’s a pretty impossible mountain to climb in my opinion. The fact that I am such a person taking on a career in screenwriting is doubly impossible. That is why all the little victories that I have had since I started screenwriting have been so important to me. They may be small to other people and they may even laugh at them, but to me, considering where I am coming from – nothing – they are moments that urge me on, make my day and make me realize that I’m on the right track and to keep going.

These things include finishing 8 screenplays, including countless hours spent re-writing and editing. Entering some of them into competitions and receiving great feedback. Having one of them finish as a quarterfinalist. Having complete strangers tell me they like what I’ve written. Listing my work on Inktip and having it viewed by top production companies, agents and managers – people that I could only hope to have sniff at my work.

But the latest great thing to happen is also a first. I listed one of my screenplays on Inktip (a short, ‘The Seventh Saint’) and a short time after, two different production companies contacted me to ask for the complete script. Me… they contacted me directly because they liked the logline of the script. That’s huge. I’ve just started marketing myself after spending 6 years writing 8 screenplays for my portfolio. To have someone contact me and ask for my work is so gratifying and an important step in my career. It may seem small to many, but to me it was one of those game changer moments.

Sometimes I feel like ‘what the hell am I doing this for?’ and drag myself down into the dumps and feel like giving up. Then, something like this happens and I feel like I’m on top of the world. These are wild swings and it’s probably something that I’m going to have to get used to if I want to persevere. All these little victories – they add up and the next one gets a little more important. I know I’m on the right track. All signs point in that direction. I just need a little luck and circumstance to fall into my lap.