New Year’s Resolution Ideas for Screenwriters:
The start of the new year is an ideal time to really consider your goals for 2020. Whether you believe in the idea of resolutions or not, (I prefer to call them “intentions” rather than “resolutions” - takes the pressure off a bit) taking stock of where you are and where you want to go is never a bad thing.
What did you learn from the past year? What are you going to do differently? What habits do you want to create (or break) in the months to come?
Here are 4 New Year’s resolution/intention ideas for screenwriters:
1. Write Smarter
A lot of screenwriters make the resolution to ‘write more’. This goal is great - if you can keep it. Much like the resolution to ‘exercise more’ this lofty goal can feel pretty unattainable once you return to the schedule of your regular life in January. Life is busy, you can’t escape that reality, which is why the resolution to ‘write more’ can be a fast fail (and in turn, make you feel like you’re a failure as a writer). Instead of aiming to write more, why not aim to write SMARTER? Make the time that you do have as productive as possible: focused, quality writing time where you make every minute count. If you’re like a lot of my clients, you’ll be amazed at how much you can get done in short, concentrated bursts of effort. Write smarter, not longer. (Check out my ’30-minute increment trick’ it’s been a game-changer for me).
2. Make Friends With Rejection
As a screenwriter, rejection can sometimes feel like it’s coming at you from all sides, on a weekly (almost daily) basis: whether it’s from your reps, executives, screenwriting contests, film festivals - part of this career is hearing NO far more often than you’ll hear YES. If you don’t find a way to constructively deal with rejection it’s easy to get depressed and disillusioned. Make a decision to see rejection as just part of the process (everyone goes through it, it’s a Hollywood rite of passage). It’s also an incredibly helpful tool: ask yourself why you’re being met with rejection (why your script isn’t getting any traction, or what might be contributing to you not getting reps yet). If you’re willing, rejection can show you areas for improvement and growth.
3. Make Self Care a Priority
It’s easy to get caught up in working all the time when you’re a writer - you constantly need to generate new material, you need to network, and if you’re lucky you’re doing all of that around meetings, contract negotiations, or long hours in a writers room. All of this is great, but unless you practice some self-care among all those commitments you’re going to run out of steam. This year, try creating your own self-care routine - it’s vital to help you stay healthy, stay creatively ‘juiced’ and stay focused on your writing. Maybe find an exercise you love (dance class or a team sport, or as I said in my last blog, do ‘Yoga with Adriene’), spend time in nature, or try a new hobby —getting away from work and getting outside your routine can be a great way to super charge your creativity and sense of self. Looking for other ideas, check out my article on Self-Care.
4. Quality over Quantity
Another popular resolution for writers is to just ‘get their work out there’. I’m all for you being proactive about your career - but there’s a difference between ‘getting yourself out there’ in a strategic, intelligent way (that tends to pay off) and just bombarding everyone and anyone with your script. Shooting out emails at random sadly just makes you look like a desperate writer. Instead make the intention to create a smart plan of approach that presents you as the talented, business-savvy writer you are. My post on Hollywood Etiquette has some great tips on how to do this.
What are your New Year’s resolution/intentions for 2020? Let me know @CaroleKirsch!