INT. CLASSIFIEDS – SCREENWRITERS WANTED – REALLY?

This is not a classified ad for a screenwriter position.  It sure looked promising though, didn’t it?  It probably offered you a brief moment of hope.  Well, that feeling you may have had when you clicked on this post is a feeling I get when perusing for possible job leads on the inter-tubes.  And I wanted to talk about the ads that cause these promising feelings.  I want to know if they are worth my time or just a waste of time;  after all, I am still just an amateur with no proven skills.   Are these ads legit? Do they offer valid hope for an inexperienced writer?  Are they legit even for the experienced writer? This is what I want to know, and perhaps you clicked here because you want to know too.

So I search the inter-webs, almost on a daily basis, looking for that one opening, that portal, that brief window of opportunity that will allow me  into the world of professional screenwriting.  But here’s the problem that I encounter; I have no published writing samples.  Everything that I have written to this point, has been on my own time, in my own space. And as a newbie to the world of blogging, I have very limited experiences to share with a potential employer that would  even remotely express the capabilities that I feel that I have as a budding writer.  I start this writing off, this way, so that I may try and  work through some ideas on how to  get myself into that world, without having the experiences that almost anyone in the field of production would be looking for.  I am posting this in hopes that others who have replied to ads like those seen on sites like Craigslist.org can offer their experiences and offer some insight as to whether or not they have found success or have been left to ponder as I do.

The first thought that comes to mind in relation to this subject is, “Can an unpublished writer land a gig through an online ad.”  What I don’t know is just how many people are replying to such ads.  If you are an aspiring writer with little or no experience, and you have responded to any of these ads, please share your experience with me. I want to know the success rates of such experiences, and whether or not I am kidding myself by believing that I can find a gig this way.

The next thought I have  is about self-publishing.  I have enough things written from my own spare time that I feel could  build up my presence on a web page, or on a blog, should I choose to post them.  By publishing things in this manner,  I should be able to create a more accurate picture relating to the nature of my talents.  As someone who has been very reluctant to share his work with anyone over the years however, it is a daunting task to just post such work on a public forum with the hopes of gaining positive feedback, or constructive criticism.  But one of the  recurring thoughts that an aspiring writer like myself has, is that  “if I don’t show my work, then no one will see it;  and if no one sees it, I can’t prove my talents and build web presence.”  And my guess, is that without web presence, or a portfolio of completed works, it will be a very difficult task to get noticed by those production companies or independent film makers who seek screenwriters for their projects.  But I just don’t know all the avenues just yet, and this is one purpose in posting this topic.

So, if you have an opinion on this topic and/or suggestions as to the proper way  way to build a portfolio of work without being officially published, please share it with me . This journey isn’t just for me, it’s for all of us talented writers who are scared of the implications of the business end of the creative world, and who haven’t yet taken that leap forward into the world of professional screenwriting; a place we strive to be part of.

And that is where I start this journey; by asking questions to both the experienced and the aspiring writers out there, in an attempt to get some answers to the questions that people like myself have in regards to the screenwriting profession.  I have another blog just getting going at the dayscribber. It is brand new like this one, so be patient.  If you like what I have to say here, follow me on both; it is bound to get better, all the time.

FADE OUT: