As a writer I'm finding that my natural state of mind seems to be obsessing about... well, the quality of my writing. I don't believe that I am the best writer in the world. I don't even believe myself to be very prolific. But I still obsess. Does anyone care? Will I succeed in entertaining someone? Will my work be recognized on any level?
In July I was obsessing over the completion of some Supernatural TV specs. I once vowed to never tackle TV, and it was precisely because of what a writing friend of mine recently asked when I spread the news my spec Supernatural - Intervention made the top 10% list at the Austin Film Fest and at Scriptapalooza.
Kevin asked me this - "I just wanted to ask, out of curiosity, when you wrote a script for Supernatural, at what point in the storyline did you write it from? Or was it like a stand alone, "monster of the week" type script? Because I'm only thinking is it not kinda hard to write a script for lets say, where the overall storyline is now, because by the time you have it written out and finished the storyline couldve moved on?"
Spot on, Kev. Yes, the very reason I took so long to tackle ANY TV spec is because of the outdating that a series timeline represents. I obsessed about why I shouldn't do it instead of just doing it... I'm glad I decided to do it.
So, as mentioned, Supernatural - Intervention has made it to the top 10% list of two very relevant screenwriting competitions. It's a relief to be recognized (OMG, someone believes I have talent!). Do I continue to obsess? Absolutely. Can I continue to pull it off? What should I be writing next? Etc. etc. And the beat goes on.
I thank my writing friends and family for keeping me writing. They are an inspiration, and I hope that I'm as much of an inspiration to them to keep doing what it is they are passionate about. For some, it's writing. For others it's... other stuff. Keep doing what you do! Keep obsessing about it - in a good way.
And keep writing. :]
