“Thank you for GOYOQ!”

I’m receiving more emails from writers who participated in GOYOQ [Go On Your Own Quest]. Here’s one from Sabina Giado:

Dear Scott,

I finished the first draft of my second ever screenplay Mr. Wonderful about three weeks. For some odd reason, CeltX didn’t save my final scene. So I wrote it again yesterday. So I missed my own deadline which was the 18th of December, but as far as GOYOQ is concerned, I’m still on schedule.

Saving constantly aside, I can’t begin to tell how much GOYOQ has taught me. The weekly insights during Prep exposed the moving parts of this wondrous machine called cinema. I realized what I was missing when I would attack stories in the past; I was missing an understanding of some of their most vital organs — theme, character, time, dialogue, etc. I was wondering why my stories seemed a little lifeless.

I feel less frightened of my story now.

And that’s been my worst problem. It hasn’t been that I have issues finishing what I start. I’ve started two screenplays and finished both and written quite a few shorts. It’s that I doubt myself to the point of crippling anxiety. And that’s caused me more often than not, not to start at all.

I realize now that I don’t know a whole lot about Story. But that’s okay. It’s okay not to know. It’s okay to think you know but find out you were more than a little wrong when your characters suddenly take the story from you. I have, at the very least broken down my study of screenwriting into manageable parts so I can deal with it one at a time rather than letting it overwhelm me. Thank you Scott. I’ve learned to be comfortable in the dark room of my ignorance while slowly lighting candles to illuminate it.

And I guess perhaps more than screenwriting, I’ve learned a lot about life. I’ve learned to be okay with uncertainty. I’ve learned that life will not do what you want it to do. Similarly characters will often fly off the page and do their own thing. I’ve learned to ride the wave, instead of fighting the ocean.

I’ve learned to focus on what’s important, while experiencing the pleasurable. I’ve learned the importance of balance, joy and sweat, tears and laughter.

More than anything, I’ve learned the importance of community.

Thank you for a great blog, a great community and hopefully God willing many more great lessons to come!

Congratulations, Sabina!

Here we are in 2013, a new year. If you didn’t participate in GOYOQ, there’s no time better than the present to write a script. If you did take on the GOYOQ challenge, next week I will be running a daily series on the rewrite process.

The point is the only way to make it happen… is to get it written.

If you need inspiration, just read Sabina’s post again!