Movies are certainly a huge influence on me, I studied screenwriting in college, I think visually, so, you might wonder, why do I not just cut to the chase and write Relentless as a screenplay? There are ever so many excellent reasons.
I would never write a script on spec. That means that like writing fiction, you write the script and shop it around (or your agent does, assuming you have one). There are 50,000 scripts registered with the Writer’s Guild of America every year. Of those, maybe a handful of spec scripts might be purchased. That means that the writer is paid a fee to not do anything with the script while whoever paid the money explores the possibility of producing the script. It used to be that you could get a nice chunk of change to option your script, which you typically have to keep off the market for about a year. That is no longer the case. You typically would be looking at $1000 to option a script. That is just not worth it. Many consider the very idea of a spec script as essentially dead.
The odds are that even if you got your script optioned, it will never get made. There are so many obstacles, even if a studio is interested. You could wind up in turnaround hell, which can last years, and in some cases, decades. I think your odds are better winning the lottery.
The number of writers versus the number of scripts actually produced is staggering. Sure, the only ones that really count are the already very good writers, but there are still a lot more of them than there are productions made.
How many scripts, on average, did a successful screenwriter have to write before selling one? I have heard estimates from between 5 and 15. It can take years and lots of effort just to get competent at writing a screenplay. You have to be excellent to even stand a chance, and even then it is a slim one. If you want to make a living at something, that is no way to make a living. I wrote scripts primarily for industrials, so I know the proper structure and formatting, but I just don’t have anywhere near the skill or knowledge of a competent screenwriter.
If you are in the industry, and have connections, your odds go up a bit, but it is still tough. I have friends who write scripts. One of them got his first script turned into a movie by raising the money, directing, and producing it himself. That is actually becoming a more viable option, as production costs, especially for special effects, are coming down dramatically. He was already a well-established actor at the time with a lifetime of experience and tons of connections in the industry. The others I know got their breaks screenwriting after many years of writing for television, which is a tiny bit easier to break into. It is still tough, though, even with the dramatic increase in streaming content.
None of those things are the main reason I prefer to write in the novel form. Yes, you’ll have book editors who will want to change and craft things, but you still have input. You write your vision and something close to that, if sold, will be what is published. Once you sell a script, the final product may be completely unrecognizable to you, even with your name in the credits.
I like the attitude of Stephen King. His stories are already out there. He takes the money and lets them do what they want. Don’t like the movie? The book is better. He has control over his books, and realizes that writers have little control over movies.
I’ll stick with writing books, thank you. I write to make money, and I write to share ideas. If I write a book and can’t sell it, there are alternative ways to get it out there. Not so much with a screenplay.
What Is Up with Us
Life continues to challenge. Besides just losing my dad and a close friend, we got an initial diagnosis of cancer for one of our cats. That has us a bit sad. Not as directly impactful, but also still sad, is news we just learned about an old friend. Belle and I used to share a big house with a 3D artist and his programmer wife, and I just learned that he passed away. We had been out of touch for years, and I had wondered what he was up to, and was very sad to learn the news.
The house we shared with them was very cool. It even had a turret that we called the tower room, which Belle used as an office. My office was enormous and had 16 foot ceilings, so I had a total of 16 feet of bookshelves lining opposite walls that went up 16 feet. That is a staggering 256 feet of shelf space, and I had it pretty much filled. When we did move, I was finally persuaded that I needed to reduce the size of my book collection.
We were all creative types with many shared interests, so it was a fun place to live. They eventually moved for a job, and it was just too big a house for just two of us, so we moved as well. I will always have fond memories of that amazing house nestled in the oaks.
I need to pull myself up and get back to writing the novel. My non-fiction book has been roaring along though, shaping up nicely, and getting me close to the finish line. My deadline is May, and I hate missing deadlines. With my illness, I build in a lot of wiggle room. I actually have until July, which is probably more realistic.
The main problem for me is that I am just much slower at the physical process of writing on a computer. With my frequent loss of proprioception, I can no longer touch type as I do not know the relationship between the keyboard and my fingers without looking. I just can’t type as fast, and along with loss of fine motor control, I have to fix a lot more typos. It does slow me down. I used to be able to crank out 2,000 words a day without breaking a sweat. Now a good day is between 1,000 and 1,500 words.
My wife and I went out to Riverside for a few days for the memorial service for my dad. I traveled a lot before my illness, but I now have a new issue with traveling that might surprise you. It is not a topic that people generally talk about, but here goes.
The reason is because hotels in America do not have bidets. I have reached the point where I simply do not like having to use a bathroom without them. That pretty much just leaves using them at home.
I have become a complete convert. They were transformative for me. It is simple technology, and one of the few side benefits of the epidemic, since the toilet paper shortages increased their popularity in the U.S. and dropped the prices.
Unfortunately, no one can be told what the bidet is. You have to try it for yourself (to paraphrase a line from the Matrix.) Go on Amazon, where you can find them as add-ons to your existing facilities for under $50. Read the comments. Over and over again, people write about how it changed their life. I don’t want to go into detail, but I can affirm that it is life changing. I do leave home without it, but I wish I didn’t have to.
I also recently acquired another bit of technology that I am loving more than I thought I would. I wrote earlier about our Christmas adventures and the failure of our door lock. I replaced it with a smart lock. One of the seemingly endless problems with my condition is the loss of a lot of fine motor control in my hands. The result has been a not infrequent dropping of my keys as I try to get into the house. Bending over to retrieve them is painful. A smart lock makes it all so much easier. I can punch in a code with one finger even if that arm is holding a bag. If my phone is on, the door automatically unlocks as I approach. I also never have to remember to lock the door when I go out, as it locks automatically. I can leave the house and get in the car and drive away without ever having to take keys out. So much better.