Before I get to today’s blog…

Thinking about doing more with your writing? Why not join me in Paris June 2-7 for my Masterclass in Screenwriting? Come be part of a dynamic community of writers and literary agents to learn, to write, to network, to energize your literary goals—and just to have fun in the City of Light!

The Paris Writers Workshop is the longest running literary program of its kind. This program offers 6 masterclasses by renowned authors, each a specialist in their field—and I’ll be teaching the Screenwriting Masterclass—in English, of course.

The workshop will be held at Columbia University’s beautiful Reid Hall campus in the heart of literary Paris—Montparnasse.

Registration is now open: https://wice-paris.org/paris-writers- workshop

We’ll have a great time getting your story ideas off the ground!!

The Hard Work of Writing

I hope that in the last few weeks while we’ve been talking about Hollywood stories that you’ve come up with a possibility that might work for you. But whatever kind of story you write, action, comedy, period piece, etc., you need to realize just how much work it is. If you understand this from the outset, you won’t get too depressed during the process!

Depressed? Huh? Well, yeah. It can be depressing at times to stare at that blank page and wonder how in the world you’re going to resolve getting your main character from point A to point B. You feel like you’ll never do it, like you should just give up and be a normal person who is not trying to write a screenplay.

And hey, nothing wrong with that. Not writing a screenplay will not affect your happiness in life. Or, it shouldn’t. But if you feel you must write that screenplay, then beware that it can be frustrating and, yes, even depressing.

I could say, ‘Hey, just treat it like any job, where you need to do something and just do it,’ but when you’re talking about writing, it just isn’t that cut and dried. When we’re talking about a person who writes, we’re talking about a person who feels things deeply—whether it’s the thrill of horror or the sweetness of a love story, a writer is a person who has a strong emotional core and getting some of that on the page is a driving force.

What you may already realize is that writing isn’t just about telling a story, but it’s also about getting some of “you”—your unique insight and imagination—on the page. And that can be beyond daunting. It’s downright scary. But you’re driven to do it. But it’s hard. Thus, the depression.

In some ways, though, overcoming that depressive state that you might slip into as a writer is kind of like a long- distance runner who’s worried he’s not good enough to win. There are two things that runner can do—stop running and accept the fact that her running days are over, or run through it.

Run through it? Yeah, not a typo. Have you noticed in life that when you can’t do something, the only way to do it is to do it? Or, at least, to keep at it until you can do it? So just like the runner who must keep running to improve her ability to compete, a writer needs to keep writing to improve her ability to write.

Bottom line, you need to write through that depression. Now, what you write may be crap, but so what? It’s just words on a page, nothing more. You’re not a doctor diagnosing someone’s illness, what you write isn’t going to cause someone’s death… what you write is changeable, in fact easily changeable, so just do it. Write.

It’s hard to write when you’re depressed about your work not being good enough, though. Quite hard. But summon up your courage and do it. Write a lousy scene. Perhaps, in doing so, it will be a bridge to getting that character from point A to point B, and then tomorrow you can go back and change that lousy scene into a sparkling one.

It’s just words on a page. So open up a page, write some words, and see if you don’t feel better.

Copyright © Diane Lake

09Jun19

Email Diane a question to Diane@DianeLake.com