Working with Friends

If there’s a lonelier profession than screenwriting, I don’t know what it is. Well, maybe toll taker where you’re in a booth all day—but with that, you at least interact with the occasional driver who whizzes by.

A screenwriter sits in front of a computer all day. Alone. Novelists and playwrights do as well, of course. Why is it that creative professions are lonely?

I think it has to do with vision. An artist approaches a canvas and paints. What does she paint? Her vision. She may have been inspired by others, studied with others, but what her brush does on that canvas is her unique vision. It’s the same for the writer. You may have studied the work of other writers, you may have taken classes taught by writers, you may have read books written about how to write; but in the end, what goes on that paper in front of you is your unique vision.

Still, lonely stuff.

So what can you do about that?

I think the answer is to vary your routine. If you’re working on a novel or a screenplay, super. Keep at it. But what about taking 1/10^th of your writing time each week and working on something else? With someone else?

When Dan Futterman was trying to convince his friend Philip Seymour Hoffman to star in the screenplay Capote that he’d just written, he didn’t have much credibility. Futterman had never written a screenplay before and when first approached Hoffman said, basically, ‘Are you kidding? Capote was short and slight—I’m tall and fat. I’m all wrong for the part.’ But Futterman wouldn’t let up. He finally wrote his friend a letter where he said something to the effect of ‘what’s this crazy business for if we can’t at least once in a while work with our friends? With the people we care about?’ And that did it—Hoffman said he knew he’d have to say yes. And an Academy Award-winning project got its start.

I like this idea of working with friends—of coming up with a project you can do that takes you out of your office and into the world to interact with others. Why not work on an idea for a web series? Why not take your iPhone and make a movie? Not a filmmaker, you say? Directing not your thing? Great—find a friend who wants to direct and you write the script and watch them direct it…thus observing what directing is all about. At which point maybe you’ll discover that you do want to direct. Or write a monologue and perform it for some friends—maybe it will turn into a play. Or write the first scene of something and invite friends over to see it acted out—maybe their feedback will give you ideas about where to go with the idea.

The point is, of course, to write. But if you can do that AND work with friends—how liberating! You don’t have to do it alone, you know there’s a support system for you when you’re ready.

Generally, there’s always a support system for you, there are always friends who want to help you realize your dreams—and who knows, maybe by helping you they’ll realize their own dreams.

Copyright © Diane Lake

02Apr17

Email Diane a question to Diane@DianeLake.com