This Script = Drinking

I love screenplays. I hate screenplays. It’s a very thin line. When the writing’s going well, it’s an incredible feeling of satisfaction. When it’s not, it’s frustrating and soul-crushing; it really sucks.

I’m slowly getting back into the swing of things, including screenwriting. This afternoon I opened up one of my scripts. I looked things over and started punching some keyboard keys, creating words, descriptions, characters, dialogue and drama. Then… I stopped. It sucked. I wasn’t happy with any of it.

Try again. Try again. Try again. Read it. Hate it. Cry. It’s all soul-crushing.

I’m co-writing a screenplay and I’m not sure if I’ll ever see the end of it. The painstaking process of writing this script reminds me of Antoni Gaudí’s Sagrada Família. That’s the church in Barcelona, Spain that began construction in 1882. It’s still not finished. It’s 2012. There’s an optimistic target date of 2026.

Writing is hard (apparently, so is church building). Writing sucks. I guess this is why Hemingway said: “Write drunk; edit sober.”

So, that’s what I’ll do. I’m going to go get a drink, open up my script and try again. I will write drunk… but I have a feeling I’ll be back blogging instead, procrastinating while drunk. I just hope it’s not past the year 2026.