Are people who follow their dreams a bit out to lunch?

[Regular_John]

I always put a lot more weight and value into execution of ideas over ideas themselves.

In most cases ideas/dreams are cheap. Let's face it, most of us can come up with a decent idea over a round drinks. But the devil is in the details and execution will make or break your idea.

In all honestly this isn't about "dreamers" at all, it's about lazy bums using their dream as a talking point to excuse their laziness.


tl;dr: 1 inspiration 99 perspiration

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

How does this post not have any thanks?

Because it's untrue and everybody knows fatso is a non-contributing zero?

[troutman]

6-10 years to write a screenplay is grossly incompetent (if that was your focus).

http://www.tameri.com/format/wordcounts.html

Average word count for a movie script is 7,500 to 20,000 words.

How to Write a Screenplay in 1 Week
http://screenwritingfoxhole.blogspot...in-1-week.html

But how do you get that 90 page treatment to begin with. Now that can take some time. Usually about three months. It can be 60 to 90 days if you’re really on fire with an idea or if it’s dragging it may take you half the year. But 3 months is a pretty good average. John Ford once said he could SHOOT a movie in one week provided he had three months to prepare. That’s what you’ll be doing on these three months; flawlessly preparing your screenplay.

[Clarkey]

Goals are dreams that are acted on.

Goals are not about not doing something (e.g. not being a 9-5er, not conforming to a conventional lifestyle). Goals are about doing something and having a plan, whatever that may be.

[icecube]

Originally Posted by troutman

6-10 years to write a screenplay is grossly incompetent (if that was your focus).

http://www.tameri.com/format/wordcounts.html

Average word count for a movie script is 7,500 to 20,000 words.

How to Write a Screenplay in 1 Week
http://screenwritingfoxhole.blogspot...in-1-week.html

But how do you get that 90 page treatment to begin with. Now that can take some time. Usually about three months. It can be 60 to 90 days if you’re really on fire with an idea or if it’s dragging it may take you half the year. But 3 months is a pretty good average. John Ford once said he could SHOOT a movie in one week provided he had three months to prepare. That’s what you’ll be doing on these three months; flawlessly preparing your screenplay.

Any idiot could write a ####ty screenplay in a couple weeks. To get to the level where you are getting paid writing gigs in Hollywood takes years. It's a craft that is difficult to master.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Sliver

Because it's untrue and everybody knows fatso is a non-contributing zero?

While he might not have the same discussion causing views in Dogs and Bears, I think it is a little harsh to call him a "non-contributingh zero".

[Burninator]

Tom Lennon (Reno 911) wrote a book about screenwriting.

Writing Movies for Fun and Profit: How We Made a Billion Dollars at the Box Office and You Can, Too!
http://www.amazon.com/Writing-Movies...rds=tom+lennon

[jammies]

Originally Posted by icecube

Any idiot could write a ####ty screenplay in a couple weeks. To get to the level where you are getting paid writing gigs in Hollywood takes years. It's a craft that is difficult to master.

Have you actually been to a movie lately? I might not sell my script, but I could write a better-than-average screenplay in a few months, maximum. You vastly overestimate the amount of skill it takes to grind out drivel.

Writing a good novel is a whole other problem. It can take authors years because you are the sole originator of all content and complexity. A script is merely a rough outline of what eventually gets onscreen. It often is rewritten during production, besides, so making it "perfect" is a waste of time and counter-productive - telling someone it took you 6 years to write a script is probably a big red flag that tells people "This guy can't work to a deadline".

6 years to *sell* a script, that I can believe. But if nobody wants your script after that long, you'd better have a second and third script in you to flog as well.

[Russic]

I've personally always dialled "do what you love" back to "don't do what you hate". If you wake up every morning and wish for nothing more than the day to be nearly over, I'd flag that as a serious problem. Perhaps the solution isn't to quit your job and backpack through Laos, but rather to just find a different fit in your chosen industry.

There's tons of factors involved being able to successfully do what you love. Somebody who loves building apps is going have a much smoother ride than somebody who loves writing poetry. Somebody who is single is going to have a much smoother ride than somebody who has a wife, 3 kids in daycare, and a mortgage. Somebody who can work 12 hours and feel great is going to have a smoother ride than somebody who values their downtime.

I met 2 interesting guys when I was starting down the freelance path who were the type that would annoy Sliver. They preached the importance of really taking life by the horns and bending it to suit you. At the same time it was hard to take them completely seriously. Both single, paying rent on a 1 year lease, and having all the time in the world – it was very obvious that their risk tolerance was incredibly high. I meanwhile had a kid in daycare costing me $1100/month, another one in the womb, and a wife about to go on mat leave. Not exactly the time to quit my job and take a risk. In my particular case that's actually what I did and it resulted wonderfully, but having gone through it I'm quite hesitant to recommend it for everyone.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

While he might not have the same discussion causing views in Dogs and Bears, I think it is a little harsh to call him a "non-contributingh zero".

Well he has started exactly zero threads in his whole time on CP, yet he has plenty of helpful tips, tricks and criticisms of my posts and threads. If he was even once able to start an interesting conversation, I'd be happy to change my opinion, but until then I think I'm right.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Sliver

Well he has started exactly zero threads in his whole time on CP, yet he has plenty of helpful tips, tricks and criticisms of my posts and threads. If he was even once able to start an interesting conversation, I'd be happy to change my opinion, but until then I think I'm right.

Is it cuz he's a ginger?

[Chill Cosby]

Originally Posted by icecube

Any idiot could write a ####ty screenplay in a couple weeks. To get to the level where you are getting paid writing gigs in Hollywood takes years. It's a craft that is difficult to master.

Any idiot could write a junk screenplay in a couple weeks.
A true idiot writes one junk screenplay in 6 years.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by FireFly

My understanding is that Ken did it as part time for fun while still being a doctor and once he gained success, decided he could probably quit his day job and just act full time.

Yup, but going from doing standup in the evenings to making $5MM for a movie is a pretty big leap... Most guys doing standup professionally are near starving.

[PsYcNeT]

Originally Posted by icecube

Any idiot could write a ####ty screenplay in a couple weeks. To get to the level where you are getting paid writing gigs in Hollywood takes years. It's a craft that is difficult to master.

Pulp Fiction was written in 6 weeks.

It was the 4th full length script Tarantino had written at the time.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

Is it cuz he's a ginger?

I didn't know he was, but it's not helping his case.

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by Russic

I've personally always dialled "do what you love" back to "don't do what you hate".

A theory I adopted years ago as well. I found this article when I was in college for what was originally my "do what you love" path. Resonated very true at the time.

http://www.martynemko.com/articles/d...-starve_id1380

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Sliver

I didn't know he was, but it's not helping his case.

Neither did I.

[PsYcNeT]

"Do what won't make you crazy."

[troutman]

“If you do follow your bliss you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living. Follow your bliss and don’t be afraid, and doors will open where you didn’t know they were going to be.”
Joseph Campbell

[octothorp]

Within six years of seriously starting a full-time screenplay-writing career, someone should:
1. ) Read dozens of books, attended seminars, classes, etc.
2. ) Become really good at writing, not only quality, but volume as well. If you can't sit down and bang out 1000 quality words an hour, you've got room for improvement.
3. ) Establish a solid picture of the industry, and what it takes to write a script that the industry would consider acquiring. Be aware not only what films are being released, but what is being produced, what is being dropped from production, and why.
4. ) Establish a list of dozens of screenplay ideas, ranging from crap to gold.
5. ) Be able to write at minimum, a couple screenplays a year. Seriously, every year tens of thousands of people write a 50K novel in a month, most of them complete amateurs, and most of them juggling their writing with jobs, education, family life, etc. Again, going back to the 1,000 words an hour estimate, if you do your preparation, it should take only a couple hours a day to write a 50K novel in a month. A screenplay should take significantly less time, because dialogue tends to write faster, and because screenplays are significantly shorter.
6. ) Establish your own writing workflow, honed over several projects and tailored to what works best for you.
7. ) Become involved in their local independent film-making industry, have had several of your screenplays critiqued, and critiqued the work of other writers.
8. ) Have a very good idea whether you're good enough to actually make a career of this, and what steps you need to take to get there.

Too often, I think people see creative arts and especially writing as creating a single thing, not as developing skills and processes. Somebody feels like they've got a story to tell, so they focus on the story, when in fact they should focus on becoming a good storyteller.

I've never tried writing a screenplay, but it's on my writing bucket-list, and I'll probably attempt it within the next three years. And when I take that plunge, I fully expect to be able to produce something solid in three months or less (one month preparation, one month writing, one month editing and revising). Honestly I'd be disappointed in myself if I was not able to produce something solid in that amount of time.