Screenwriting Tip: Feet on the ground… head in the clouds

A twist on a familiar adage speaks to the business of writing.

I’m sure we’ve all seen the saying, “Keep your head in the clouds and your feet on the ground.” If you Google the phrase, you find all sorts of “growth experts” and “motivational speakers” riffing off this old adage, encouraging us to seek a balance with our ambitions and the realities of life.

Then there is screenwriting and its harsh realities.

One thing I have consistently done on this blog is acknowledge the long odds against anyone breaking in as a professional screenwriter. The competition is fierce. The buyers reluctant. The jobs limited.

In short, it’s a rough and narrow path to financial success. Anyone who tells you otherwise is either lying or full of shit.

So what is one to do: Give up?

If you love movies…
If you believe in your creativity…
If you have the passion to bust your ass and hone the craft…
If you feel a calling to ‘follow your bliss’ and that bliss is screenwriting…

How can you not pursue that goal? To do anything less would repudiate an essential part of your Self. And unless you believe in reincarnation, you have one shot at pursuing your dreams.

You may not sell a million dollar spec script.
You may not own a home in the Hollywood hills.
You may not get a movie produced.

But isn’t there some value in acknowledging an essential part of Who You Are, responding to that and taking on that hero’s journey?

Besides new writers do break into the business every year. Not a lot, but some. Including total Hollywood outsiders. I should know. I am one.

So how to look at this conundrum: The desire to pursue screenwriting in light of the significant odds against achieving financial success?

I propose we take that old adage noted above and flip it.

“Keep your feet on the ground… and your head in the clouds.”

Start off knowing the odds are long. The competition fierce. The need to understand the craft of screenwriting in-depth high.

That awareness is keeping your feet on the ground and an important place to start.

But if you feel called by the Creative and are consumed by the magic that is Movies, there is nothing wrong with keeping your head in the clouds. Indeed isn’t that what we call ‘inspiration’?

Visualize writing a great script.
Imagine that script becoming your ticket to Hollywood.
Dream of the possibilities of working as a writer in the business.

As screenwriters, we live with a fundamental dichotomy.

It’s goddamned hard to succeed.
But we are goddamned committed to pursue that journey.

How to do that?

Feet on the ground. Head in the clouds.