Dear Past Me,
Dear Past Me,
Your TV show is going to be a massive hit. You just don't know it yet.
The Creative Challenge is a weekly discussion of excerpts from Making a Good Writer Great by Linda Seger, a book designed to help screenwriters find their unique writing styles.
I’ve abandoned more script ideas than I could recount.
My computer desktop is full of unfinished screenplays, half-baked character bios, and vague logline ideas.
Recently, though, I started working on a script that I know I won’t let down. Not that the story is much better than the ones I thought of before, or that it has more potential. It’s actually thanks to an exercise designed by our beloved Linda Seger.
Seger asks the reader to write a letter to their future self, to the writer that has actually written and rewritten the script they’re working on. She recommends emphasizing how interesting and multi-dimensional the characters are; how cool the story is; how well-written and polished the script is… And on and on we go.
I wrote such a letter, and re-read it whenever I’m thinking of throwing in the towel. It reminds me that I can do it, that I once believe that this story was full of potential and that with lots of work and sleepless nights, I will see it through.
Imagine you’re one year older and the script you’re working on right now is finished. It’s so good it got you reps and a deal with a streamer (yep).
What would you say to your Past You, who’s struggling and thinking of quitting?