Screenwriting is perhaps one of the strangest and most counter-intuitive careers in all of writing. Learning the ropes of that industry can be a challenge for anyone. John August, the screenwriter behind, Go, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Big Fish and Charlie’s Angels writes an excellent blog about screenwriting and the film industry. This week he gives advice to a relative newcomer who wants to know whether or not to direct his own script.
Should I direct my Spec?

Why can’t people follow the instructions?

The good folks over at Freelance Switch have put together a nice set of advice for people applying for freelance gigs. Their central pint is that most people don’t get the job because they don’t follow the rules. I’m not talking about the “unwritten rules” I’m talking about the guidelines the potential client has clearly laid out. As someone who has hired freelancers in the past, I completely agree. My requirements were relatively straightforward, about a half dozen clearly stated requirements, and inevitably the applicants would fail to follow these rules. This is one of the reasons there are so many unsuccessful; freelancers in the world, and the reason why anyone with a little common sense can succeed.
How NOT to Apply for a Freelance Position

The Ferris Effect

Marketer Alex Goad hasn’t Read The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich week yet, but he is seeing the effects. Two of his business partners abandoned a new project to stick to their more low-maintenance income, and one of them decided to live abroad. They’ve even put autoresponders on their email. If none of this makes any sense to you, then you should probably read the book. Paradigm Shift: Work Smart, Play Often

Get an Early Start

One of the keys to success as a writer is to start a project as early as possible. Don’t wait until the last minute. Paris Hilton showed up at jail two days early. That allowed her to get an early jump on her jail term, just as you should jump on projects as soon as possible. How many projects have you gotten off to a poor start on, simply because you put them off? Make sure to tackle projects in a timely manner so that you can make the most of the results. You, like Paris Hilton, just may be rewarded for it down the line.

Look for Creative Solutions

Rather than turn herself into jail at the women’s facility, where everyone was waiting for her, Paris cleverly turned herself into the men’s facility. This allowed her to be processed much more quickly and with fewer distractions than if she had attempted the same thing at the women’s facility in front of the hundreds of paparazzi and interested bystanders. How many times have you struggled with a project only to figure out an easier method later. Take the time to look at your options before you start. Good planning can eliminate needless work.

Make Sure Your Presentation is Attractive

Unlike other celebrities, who failed to prepare for their mug shots, Paris Hilton showed up in an attractive outfit with impeccable hair, makeup and a smile on her face. Take a look at your portfolio, business cards and web site. Could they be more attractive or professional? Take a look at your work. Have you been cutting corners on presentation?

Make Space for Yourself

Paris Hilton made sure to get her own special cell. This allowed her time to think about her life and her options. Without that private space, her three days in jail may have been substantially less productive. If a prisoner can find space for themselves, surely you can find a place to put your home office. Having a quality workspace helps you perform quality work.

Don’t settle for less than you deserve

Most prisoners would have simply eaten the food that was given them, no matter what the quality. Paris Hilton refused to settle. Rather than eat food that wasn’t worthy of her position, she simply chose not to eat. Not only did this prompt the facility to release her, it allowed her to shed the extra weight she has been carrying since Christmas (she was up almost two pounds). How many bad clients or low paying jobs have you accepted simply because you felt you needed the work? Sometimes you need to hold out for something better, just like Paris Hilton.

Do you see the multi-colored letters that form my name at the top of the page. I did that on purpose. I was trying to recreate the look and feel of an early nineteen sixties cocktail bar sign, the sort of thing you would find in a Rock Hudson / Doris Day movie or (my personal favorite) the Kim Novak, James Garner, Tony Randall classic, Boy’s Night Out. It may or may not be the best look for a site by a 21st century writer, but I liked it. This all leads me to a conversation being had over at ProBlogger about how much design matters during the early stages of a blog. I subscribe to the philosophy that the first, most important thing to do is start writing quality posts and worry about fancy design earlier. Read: Does Blog Design Matter in the Early Stages of a Blog?

Somebody Out There Made it Work

Have you wondered whether or not to try freelance writing for other blogs? In my opinion, it isn’t worth the effort. It is far easier to write and market your own blog about things that interest you than to try to squeeze money out of the notoriously tight-fisted blogging community, but Leo Babauta claims to be making $2000 a month freelancing for blogs, and he offers a boatload of advice for people who want to follow in his footsteps. In my opinion, there are far easier ways to make $2000 a month, but I don’t begrudge anyone who wants to try the exciting world of freelance writing. Read: How to Become a Freelance Blog Writer

28 Years Later

When I was a kid watching Meatballs for the first time, I thought it was an instant classic. After 28 years or so, it turns out the movie was merely great, which is why I still don’t want them to remake it. Unfortunately, Hollywood continues its self-devouring ways and has commissioned a script for a new version. I wonder if this one will have the lead character laughing and joking his way through a date rape scene. Read: Who’s Ready for Another Serving of ‘Meatballs’?

The Book is Flat, and Thick

On the traditional book front, I am reading Thomas L. Friedman’s The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century. After reading Timothy Ferris, I became more interested in the influence of outsourcing on the technology industry.
Friedman’s book discusses the benefits and challenges of a truly global, mobile economy. I’ll be discussing it in more detail once I finish reading it.

Would you rather be writing articles or query letters? The process of querying publishers can take months and there is no guarantee that it will lead to a sale. With blogging, you spend your time writing actual articles (or stories or poems). You don’t spend your time trying to convince other people to publish you.

You can write about whatever you want

The beauty of blogging is that you are your own publisher. You determine what you write about and then you go and write it. You don’t have to tailor your writing to a certain magazine’s style, space or content rules. You can write in your own voice and develop your own style.

You don’t have to answer to an editor

While an editor can add value to your work with good suggestions and revisions, just as often you can find yourself the victim of arbitrary cuts determined by either an incompetent editor’s ideas or the publication’s space limitations. These are not problems bloggers have to deal with. Bloggers have the freedom to determine the length and style of their work.

You get published faster

The beauty of blogging is that you determine your own publishing schedule. You can publish an article as soon as you finish it or push it back to whenever you want it to appear. The decision is yours. You’ll never get that kind of freedom as a freelancer. In many freelancing cases you have to wait as long as a year to see your work in print. The reverse works as well. If an article is taking you longer than you expected, you don’t have to worry about an editor or client calling to wonder what happened, you simply keep working on it until you get it right.

You can connect with your readers

When you write for traditional print publications or business clients, the best you can hope for is one or two sets of comments. In many cases, you will receive no feedback from your readers at all. With a blog, it is possible to develop long-term relationships with your readers. Not only will they comment on one article, in many cases they will come back again and again with their own ideas and opinions.

Stop the Interruptions

It is very difficult to accomplish anything of value when your work environment is chaotic. Multitasking is not conducive to quality work, especially for writers. Find ways to work uninterrupted: modify your work hours, get out of the office, stand up to people who plan useless meetings, send your phone to voice mail, don’t be a slave to your email. The important point is to put a value on your time, and don’t let others take away that value.

Not Every Job is Worth Taking

One of the problems you can face, especially as a freelance writer, is bad clients. It is amazing how the worst paying clients generally turn out to be the hardest clients to please, but even a pain in the ass client who pays well may not be worth it. The best paying client I ever had was one that treated me badly and didn’t respect or even understand the work I did. I put up with it for several months, but in the end I had to say goodbye to the good money and move on. I missed the money (a little) but I didn’t miss the job.

Eliminate, Delegate, Automate

Ferris is a big believer in virtual assistants. Virtual assistants are people who work remotely, often from foreign countries where the pay scale is lower, to perform tasks and solve problems for you. These tasks may be professional or personal. A virtual assistant can do anything from perform research and create charts and graphs to schedule interviews or enter data. If you are out of work, they can even conduct a job search for you. While the thought of a virtual assistant may or may not appeal to you, it is important to take a look at the tasks that take the most time and generate the least progress toward your goals. Determine whether or not they can be eliminated, delegated or automated.

See the World

Writers, especially creative writers, need an occasional change of scenery. This starts with a day spent writing from the nearest coffee shop with a hot spot and can grow until you are spending weeks or months working from a foreign country, living in a place you’d only hoped to visit. The beauty of the Internet and cellular revolutions is that you can work from just about anywhere in the world and as far as your clients know, you’ve never left your office. Those of us who live in some of the richest countries in the world (citizens of the United States, Great Britain and Australia make up the bulk of my readers) will find that the money you make in your home country goes much farther in many other countries. While a permanent move may be more than you want, a few weeks spent on foreign soil (and not as part of some rushed tour group) may be just what you need to recharge your batteries.

Try the Impossible

Everyone says its impossible for an unknown writer to get an article in Esquire, Vanity Fair or Playboy. They also say that Fortune 500 companies never farm out high-paying contracts to individuals. They may or may not be right, but how many of them are actually trying to land these assignments? If you are making a fairly good living from your low-level or mid-level clients or job, maybe it is time to reach for something higher. If you are having trouble generating any work at all, then you truly have nothing to lose by chasing the biggest and the best. The beauty of reaching for the near impossible is that it forces you to step up and try harder, to put together the kind of presentation or cover letter or resume that you never bothered with before because it didn’t seem worth it. Take the big risks, at least once in a while.