Once again, upon clearing out my email, I discovered this wonderful series of infographics from Good in a Room entitled “Screenplay Writing Explained in 7 Infographics.  I really need to be better about checking my email.  This was an interesting look at the world of screenwriting as a whole and a bit eye opening.  Take a look!  There’s not only great information and tips, but some stats that show what one reader saw within 300 scripts.

And then there was this…

A couple of days ago while scrolling through Twitter, I found this article from Screencraft entitled “How to Survive the Screenwriter Grind“.  I was left with a sort of “ugh” feeling.  I don’t think that was its intended purpose.

*Disclaimer: I did not intend for Fun Fact Friday to be defeating in anyway.  I just wanted to share what I read.  Okay, with that being said…this is my train of thought.

In the first article and the first infographic, of those 300 scripts, it does not say how many are by first time writers.  I think the first story we, as writers, put out in the world, should be one we are passionate about.  I, personally, am not passionate about the horror genre.  I’m not a fan in general.  Horror was the most submitted genre – 49 scripts.  I find this surprising, especially in light of Spielberg’s comments recently about superhero movies going the way of the western.  I nearly roll my eyes every time I see yet another advert for a horror film/sequel.

Now, I did not see Ant-man, and that is in part because I don’t really care for the character of Hank Pym.  Now his girlfriend, Jan, I do like, and she’s not even in the film.  Then I discovered, it really wasn’t about them anyway, and we can’t get a Wonder Woman movie?!  Yes, I am just like the rest of the geek girl squad calling out for a female driven superhero film.  Lynda Carter already portrayed the Amazon goddess and she deserves a return to the big screen!  Because seriously, did we need another Fantastic Four movie?  Or a whole new series of Spiderman?  ((sigh))

But I digress.

Screenwriting is a business.  I understand this.  All screenwriters understand this.  And it is a tough business to get in and stay in.  But what I learned is that until we make things happen, we need to live our lives.  This is something that needs to be reiterated.  We may have jobs we don’t really care for while waiting for the “big break”, but we don’t have to be unhappy in the interim.

I want to be a working screenwriter, so I’ve been taking jobs that maybe aren’t the best to allow me some extra free time to work on my writing, but, and this is a big BUT, I need to be satisfied in my daily life in order to write the kind of stories I want to tell.  At the moment I’m going to a very unfulfilling job and finding escape in my writing.  Now yes, I write fantasy and sci-fi so it’s easy to escape into those stories, but I’m not sure it should be a refuge from the outside world.

Finding balance, maybe that’s how I’ll survive the screenwriter grind.

What are your thoughts on surviving the writer’s life?