SeanPaulMurphyVille: Writer Tip #43: Expect Disappointment!

"Neither of us is ever going to get rich, Sean," a producer friend of mine recently said. "We're too ethical."

I took that as a compliment. Not that I'd never be rich, but rather that she considered me ethical.

She's right on both counts.

I am working on a re-write of one of my old scripts with a friend of mine. The script was a near miss in the Hollywood A-List world many years ago. Richard Zanuck even praised the dialogue. The only problem is making the time to finish the re-write. My wife advised my friend to make it her priority. My friend, who certainly knows this business, demurred. "Knowing what they pay for scripts like this now," she replied. "It won't be life changing money."

Sad but true.

If the screenplay sold as a studio-financed theatrical picture, it might result in the biggest check dropped on either of us at one time. But it wouldn't be freedom money at this stage in our lives. We'd both still have to work.

Finally, a producer who read one of my scripts back in the mid-1990s recently called me to see if it was still available. She said she hasn't been able to get it out of her mind. That script was one of my calling cards back in the day. I even turned down representation from CAA for it. (Long and foolish story.) The script had been optioned since she last saw it. However, the rights have reverted back to me. I took it off the market because I wanted to turn it into a novel before attempting to sell it again. However I said, yes, it was still available. How can you say no to someone who remembers one of your scripts after nearly thirty years?

She was delighted. Then she asked, "Would you mind if it became a BET movie?"

My answer: No!

I always envisioned the film as the first part of a theatrical trilogy. Now, however, a made for cable movie would be fine. The business has changed. So have I.

I have been blessed. I have written fourteen produced motion pictures and a number of other award-winning projects. However, I have been more blessed to have a lucrative day job as a video editor. During the day when I edit, I am still a storyteller. However, at night when I type away on Final Draft, I get to create the universe my stories take place in. Both jobs are wonderful, but writing is more creatively fulfilling.

I was disheartened when the WGA began releasing financial statistics prior to the last strike. From what I could see, I earned more as an editor for Discovery than a writer would make working on a ten episode season of a cable or streaming series. That didn't seem fair, and it made me glad I never put all of my eggs in the writing basket. I think there were only two years when I made more money as a writer than I did as an editor. Granted, I wrote on low budget features. However, by the time I walked away I began making a livable wage at screenwriting -- as long as I didn't live in LA.

I don't know how aspiring writers can survive in an expensive city like LA. I know there are script doctors who still make a million dollars a week, and showrunners who make tens of millions of dollars a year. Still, I believe the prospects of the working writer have only worsened. The WGA made a compelling case prior to the strike that television and screenwriters face an existential crisis. They won the strike, but I'm still not optimistic about the future. Something is profoundly unbalanced in the industry if a staff writer on a "hit" streaming series has to return to waiting tables during the offseason.

I remember co-writing the pilot for a one camera sitcom for a basic cable network. The project was non-union and the writers would not receive any residuals. One of my fellow writers said, "Sean, if this show is a hit, we're going to be very bitter." I just laughed and said, "I'm already bitter."

I'm writing of this blog to warn you that a veneer of disappointment hovers over every level of the screenwriting trade. A friend of a friend of mine is a multi-Oscar winner who got to make the movie he wanted to make. Still, he was embittered by the studio's marketing campaign. You will never be happy regardless of your level of success.

Screenwriters always have something to complain about. I think that's why you don't get too many commentary tracks by the writers on DVDs and Blu-rays. All they would do is point out how everyone else ruined the film. You'd learn in excruciating detail how much better the film would be if they just followed the script.... (I only recorded two commentary tracks. Only one was used on a disc.)

While there is bitterness at every level, the biggest disappointment is usually the very first one.

After years of struggling and honing your craft, you finally sell a script that gets produced. You go to the premiere. Everyone loves it. It's exhilarating to see your name on the big screen in a theater for the first time. That high usually lasts a couple weeks during the initial push. Then you realize: You're the same person. Making a movie didn't change your life. And, unless your film was a big studio project, you feel like you're starting at the bottom of the ladder again with your next script. (You're not.)

I've seen that emotional scenario play out time and time again with various screenwriting friends and acquaintances. I've felt it too, although more so with my first book than with any movie. When my memoir The Promise, or the Pros and Cons of Talking with God was released, I used to google it everyday looking for new reviews. Then I realized something. No smalltime website review was going to change the fate of my book. Unless it got a glowing review from The New York Times or Publisher's Weekly, nothing was going to change. That was quite sobering.

But that's life. And let's be honest: I didn't write the book because I wanted to get a good review from The New York Times, or even to sell a million copies. I wrote the book because it was a story I had inside me that I had to tell. Now I am simply grateful that a traditional publisher saw enough value in the manuscript to release it.

My book was a triumph. A miracle.

Every one of my movies was a miracle too. Even the ones I don't even like.

Considering how easy it is for someone in the process to say no instead of yes, I believe that every film that gets produced is a miracle. Even the worst ones.

But it is hard to accept that fact when the experience doesn't live up to your expectations, at least initially.

If you are a writer, particularly a screenwriter, you are always going to be disappointed by something. Thank God you are. If you aren't disappointed to some degree by your work, you have stopped growing as an artist and you should probably walk away.

Don't let disappointment discourage you. Use it to fuel your fire to do better the next time. Remember: You shouldn't be writing for "success." You should be writing because you love to write. Nobody should be able to take that away from you. If they do, shame on you.

Wow. I've become a motivation speaker. I guess my years in Amway paid off after all!

Photograph by Nocola Barts

Other Writing Tips:

Writer Tip #1: The First Act

Writer Tip #2: Write For Actors

Writer Tip #3: Don't Work For Free!

Writer Tip #4: Make The Changes

Writer Tip #5: Manage Your Expectations

Writer Tip #6: Hone Your Scripts

Writer Tip #7: How To Make Movies For A Living

Writer Tip #8: The Query Letter

Writer Tip #9: Nobody Wants To See Your Crappy Little Movie