“Should I write a story if I’m not sure I’m a writer?”

What if a fully-formed story pops into your head, but you’ve never written a screenplay before?

This question arose in the current Core IV: Style class I’m teaching. An individual taking the class had a remarkable experience. A story “popped” into his head “almost fully formed.” He finds himself thinking about it “all day.” Should he write it? Here is an excerpt of my response:

If you ‘see’ a story in your mind’s eye and you have a passion for it, what’s to stop you from writing it? Most likely your own insecurities. But you can tell those ‘voices of negativity’ you’re not going to listen to them. Go ahead! Write the story. There is quite literally no downside, unless you count the time and energy spent writing a negative. But for almost all writers, the writing, as much of a struggle as it can be, is self-rewarding.

And if something were to come of the project in the way of an actual purchase or option deal, or even a movie, great. But in the more likely event nothing does come of it in a business sense, you’ve already achieved success because you have aligned yourself with something you’re passionate about and in doing so found more purpose in your life.

So, learn what you can in this class. As you likely know, my blog is font of information, all of it free. Watch movies. Read scripts. Then figure out your story (I’m a big believer in story prep, especially for people such as yourself who haven’t written a screenplay before) and write it!

I just returned from a 5-day jaunt to Cologne, Germany for a 2-day writing workshop with 12 locals writers, writer-producers, and writer-directors, most of whom have established careers in the German film and TV industry. I capped of my stay by delivering the keynote address yesterday at the 2018 Cologne Film Festival where I talked about the explosive growth of TV series on a global level.

In doing my research, I was struck yet again about how important content creators are in the world of entertainment. Here is the summation of my address:

Due to the internationalization of the entertainment marketplace, there has never been a greater opportunity for you as a creative.

And just like I did with my spec script K-9, pounding it out on an Apple IIc computer with 5 and ¼ inch floppy discs, printing it out on a dot matrix printer which took 45 minutes to spit out a feature length screenplay, it doesn’t matter what technology you have available to use.

You have your own creativity which is distinctive to you.

Go make your own IP. Write a spec script. Create a web series. Produce a short film. If someone sees monetary potential, any of those efforts can be a path to creative success.

Lean into that. Embrace it. Have the courage the tell stories you want to tell. Yes, there is the new Four Quadrant Theory: Franchise, International, Nostalgia, and Spectacle. And if your stories traffic in any or all of those four quadrants, more power to you.

But ultimately it is your vision, your talent, and your passion which will serve you in good stead.

The world needs your stories. The world needs Europe’s voice.

Go. Make. Do.

The world is waiting for you.

So if you’re a neophyte at writing, yet you come up with a great and compelling idea for a screenplay… it’s something about which you’re passionate… you keep thinking about the story almost as if it’s become an obsession… by all means, write it.

But make sure you’ve got a handle on the basics of the craft before you type FADE IN. Once you’ve got that down like I say…

Go. Make. Do.