Lincoln Reed

After writing professionally for 27 years and teaching for almost as long, here is my not-so-secret way to be a more talented screenwriter. First, understand that screenwriting is not a single skill. It is a combination of skills working together to create a whole. Choosing what happens in the story is a different skill than imagining how it happens on screen, which is different from how to express it on the page. You have at least a dozen unique skills that all fall under one category: screenwriting. And that's not even mentioning pitching and navigating development! 𝗧𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗰. Over time, as a writer and a teacher, I have grown to see talent very differently. I think of talent now mostly as a starting point combined with how quickly we learn. Each of us has a different starting point for understanding, processing, and executing all the skills involved in screenwriting. Everything else is determined by practice, mentoring, and training. This is because much of what we consider talent is simply processing certain things at a faster rate. And like anything, that can be developed. The mind gets better at it the more it does it. Emerging screenwriters ask themselves, am I any good at this? But often, it's the wrong question. The right question is: are they willing to work hard enough to get good at this? You can catch up to many of the so-called more talented writers by outworking or outlasting them. 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗼𝗳 𝗯𝗮𝘀𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗯𝗮𝗹𝗹. When someone first learns to play basketball, they must consciously focus on dribbling. They think about their pivot foot and staying in bounds. Later, they worry about proper shooting form. How to play defense. In high school, they add more layers to their game, and then intensify it even more in college. Now, imagine a pro player. Do you think that player is thinking about dribbling? Is he worried about his pivot foot? No. He is just doing what he knows how to do without even thinking about it. They perform one skill learned on top of another skill learned on top of another skill. It's done now as muscle memory in a flow all so seamless that it looks like one skill: Basketball. 𝗚𝗲𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝘀 𝗶𝗻. The reps are everything. It's not just reps on the page. It's outlining. It's breaking down film structures and generating story ideas and interesting scenes. It's reading screenplays, both by the masters and your friends. In short, it's about training your mind to see the world as a screenwriter so you can process all this information faster than you did yesterday. Stay Teachable. I got stagnant for a while. It happens. Being a student elsewhere taught me to be a student again in my screenwriting. Early in your writing, you will try to learn everything all at once. That's normal. However, it may also be helpful to make sure you choose one area in each project where you will assert extra focus. Mind The Dip. You will hit walls. It happens to everyone. After three decades, I almost always have a wave of doubt around page 35 that this screenplay isn't working. Screenplays have dips. Learning curves have dips. Careers have dips. Getting through the dip is required. It doesn't mean anything is wrong, so don't let it scare you. Just push through it. Your growth as a screenwriter is on the other side. That's a wrap for this post! If you're interested in screenwriting and found it helpful: 1. Follow me for more posts like this. 2. Share it so others can also enjoy it. And don't forget to subscribe to The Story and Plot Weekly Email! It's a free screenwriting lesson every Tuesday morning!

Thanks to 2016 grad Lincoln Reed for crushing it as our 1st speaker of the year on ‘What it Means to be a Man’