Good, Better, Best
What do you want to get out of writing? Just like having a somewhat more traditional career path, you have to know what you are here for. Did I always know what I wanted? No. Not even when I started writing regularly for TV. There were things I wanted but could not put into words, there were things I wanted but was too afraid to claim, there were things I wanted but felt they were out of reach. But the constant thing is the feeling of want, the more of the matter. You have to want something out of all this, even when you are not sure what that something really is.
There are many winding paths on this writing journey — so many that could take you in any direction. You might end up writing for TV or for Film or for Documentaries or for Web Series or new evolving methods like short form Storytelling on Social Media. (#TeamTickTockTV). Whatever path you take, make a plan on what you want to get out of it, daydream as much as you can, think of it — write it down. Be deliberate about being about it.
When I started out, I wanted to be good. I wanted people to see my scripts and say wow, she’s got a knack for great dialogue. I wanted to hold people’s attention with the stories I pitched because their attention was currency. It still is. It is not about the money people pay you after you sell them a script or a story idea — money is great, but holding their attention is the kicker. Keeping them there, wanting to know the end of your story — flowing with the highs and lows and feeling everything the characters you have presented to them are feeling.
Attention is the currency a writer receives for good work
Your Audience, your Producers, the Network — what you need from them is their attention. You can’t sell anything unless you have stolen their attention, you dramatic attention seeker. You steal their attention and keep their attention — then you can call yourself good.
Good becomes comfortable. You know the feeling where writing a script takes a lot less time than it used to, dialogue is fine — you no longer feel you need practice because it comes easy to you, easier to you than it did before. Good is a dangerous place. It is a place dreams go to die. You cannot be comfortable with good. You can always be better.
If you haven’t yet, set specific goalposts. And when you hit your target, set other ones. Bigger ones. It could start off as something small — sell a script or a story idea — to someone, anyone. And when you achieve that, take it a step further. Be staffed on a writing team for a television show, and when you hit that, take it a step higher. If you aim at nothing, you hit nothing. And pulling from my background in Mathematics, everything multiplied by zero will give you a total amount of zero.
I have gone from being a good writer, to being a better writer than I was before. And this is as a result of practice.
You cannot get better without practice.
Practice — write like your words will heal the Universe. Even if no one is buying that script, write. Even if no one gave you an assignment, write. Even if it is a script no one will ever see, write and keep writing.
It is a trick I have found works for me, and one I tell anyone who is getting worrisome feedback about the quality of their scripts. Just write, whether it was assigned to you or not, whether it is getting sold or not, whether it has a purpose or not. Open your software and write. It works. You can always go from good to better.
Read Scripts
Reading other people’s scripts are like getting a cheat sheet in the middle of an examination. I remember being blown away when I found out you could just search for a script of one of your favourite films on the internet and just read.
There are so portals with scripts waiting for you on the internet, two of my favourites are
Go Into The Story and The Script Lab
Reading scripts blows my mind. One of the very first batch of scripts I read was from Ryan Reynolds ABC Television show that was on Nigerian TV a very long time ago, Two Guys, A Girl and a Pizza Place. I loved that show. And when I was reading the scripts, I was remembering the episodes exactly as they played out. Reading scripts makes you a better writer. Reading in general, makes you a better writer.
Read everything, read voraciously, consume information like a sponge.
You don’t know how knowing what the ingredients in hair of the dog are, could come in handy in some story in a couple of years.
I don’t believe in sitting and proclaiming that I am the best at something. I never feel really like I am the best at a thing, because the statement in itself leaves no room for growth. If I am the best, then I have nowhere else to go, so I am working on being better than my former better. So I can be better better, but not the best — if you are the best, then it is time to exit. Evolve or die.
Keep Writing!
See You Next Friday!
