The only thing a writer controls is what they write

In a response to this post about various end-of-year script lists, Courtney wrote this:

Pardon the “newbie” vibe here… and if I’m incorrect please correct me as I continue to learn.

But I thought the Black List was unproduced scripts…

Unproduced meaning… scripts that have been purchased (not optioned) but have not made the big leap to film… but yes… have been purchased… at least the WGA minimum for a script?

If that is correct… I’m horrified.

Bad math but those cover nearly two-thirds of that list represented by THREE agencies.

Have always been told to find “the little guy” in the beginning for representation… but if these are the scripts that are sooo close… the “little guy” doesn’t have a chance.

Maybe it’s just me but it seems like a waste of time fighting to get read by a smaller… and in my case… an out of town agency.

Guess what I’m saying is… I never want to be on the Black List because like everyone here… that never sleeps… and tells their story… wants to see their story told… and not on a “what if” list.

But a LOT of the folks that made it to that list… were “that” close… and got there by great writing of course… but were represented by a select few.

What’s an outsider to do?

I think Courtney conveys quite well the concern of most people out there with a goal of breaking into Hollywood as a screenwriter. Here is my off-the-cuff, late-night response:

Courtney: There is only one thing to do. Focus on writing a great script. That’s it. Somehow, some way, great scripts find their way to the right people, the right set of eyeballs. They just do.

The Black List has evolved. Naturally so. Agents and managers will do everything they can to promote their clients.

You can drive yourself crazy with all of that politics.

You can’t control it.

The only thing you can control is your creativity. Your story. Focus your energy there.

A manager I know says, “If you write a great script, we will find you.”

Stay targeted on your story, your characters, your plot twists, your subtext, your themes, and all the rest.

It is and always has been the same: Write a great script.

The rest will take care of itself.

Let me elaborate: The only thing a writer can control is what they write. That’s basically it. While it may not seem all that much, especially in comparison to the power and whims of Hollywood, agents, managers, producers, studio executives, actors, directors, and so on, it’s actually enough for a writer to go on. Because at the end of the day, you will either write a great script that gets the attention it deserves — or not.

There is always a way into Hollywood. Query letters. Pitch fests. Six degrees of separation. Heck, anyone who takes a Screenwriting Master Class course, if they write a great script, Tom and I will read that script, and if it is, indeed, great, we’ll get it to one of the many agents or managers we know, no strings attached.

So focus on what you control: The writing. That is where your energy should lie. Speaking as someone who was a complete Hollywood outsider, then wrote and sold a spec script, I know firsthand: It all boils down to what is on the page.

You can’t control Hollywood. But you can control what you do best: your writing.

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