Dispatch from The Quest: Rob Pilkington
Last week as we did here on GITS, the Quest writers focused on the fourth week of Prep. Today’s dispatch: Rob talks about coming up for air:
Holy crap, you guys — only two more weeks left of prep! And thank God. Prep has been a roller coaster ride for me — some weeks have been a fist-pumping, life-reaffirming breeze… while others have left me tossing and turning in my still-totally-sweet Jurassic Park bedsheets. While it’s been helpful keeping a laser focus on the process in these weeks leading up to pages (hey — what are those?), it’s also been necessary to step back clear one’s head. In an Internet screenwriting culture whose primary campaign sign is: “FOR THE LOVE OF CHRIST: JUST FINISH IT,” I’m going to buck the trend a bit and say hey, coming up for air can be a good thing.
In no way am I suggesting that taking an extended break writing a script is a good idea; it’s not. Whenever a fellow writer tells me they’re taking a hiatus from a certain project, some invisible part of me inside cringes. I’m definitely a “power-through” writer. Selecting a project is an important decision. And whenever I start one, the “not finishing” option is immediately blown off the table with leaf-blower force. In that way, I guess I do support the “Just Finish” mentality. I’ve certainly had to convince myself to do just that in the past.
But that doesn’t mean I’m against the well-deserved reprieve. The walk. The night out. The shower, even (I’m told you should take these regularly, anyway). For me, I know it’s important not to fall into a Jack Torrance-like rut; it hurts my writing. If you’ve ever looked back at a tricky scene you were determined to finish the night before and have been horrified, you and I can be best friends.
You might be thinking “Hey, what’s the big deal, wuss? You afraid of a little day off? Huh!? -gives me a swirly-” But yeah, I am. When I don’t write, I’m guilty and miserable. A certain mental resolve is required to give myself permission not to write. Still, I’m always surprised what a boost my productivity gets after telling myself “Okay, just for tonight you can skip obsessing over your script and watch 4 hours of Prison Wives. JUST FOR TONIGHT.”
Don’t take it from me — how about all those well-known screenwriters who’ve taken a momentary breather from writing? Barton Fink was smart to step back from his ‘wraslin’ scenario’ writer’s block by taking the time to cover up a murder. Joe Gillis got his mind off his career with what I can only assume was an uneventful cruise down Sunset Boulevard. Even this weekend, Marty (Colin Farrell) probably going to gain a keen perspective on his project after blowing off some steam with dog-kidnappers and violent psychopaths.
And I’m sure everything came up aces for those guys.
When I’m writing pages, I’m good for 4 solid hours, but often go 6. There are times when I hole up somewhere for a weekend and it’s nothing but writing. But I don’t know any writer who can work all the time. We need to get away to recharge and get perspective. Besides there’s a certain kind of writing we can only do when we’re not actually ass-on-chair. Free association. Let the stimuli of the world around us spark our imagintion.
So like Rob suggests: Come up for air sometimes. It’s good for your creativity… and your soul.
About Rob: Boston writer headed for LA. Lover of Kubrick, Nolan, McDonagh, and the Coens. Okay, good talk. Back to writing. Twitter: @HeroesAreBoring. Note: Rob has officially relocated to LA.