Those Who Do It Do It

Everyone needs encouragement. Everyone needs a push. Everyone goes through dry spells.

But if it's six months later and you're still saying to your friend "Start the script!" or "send me the DVD" then don't bother.

When you add up the pep-talks and Facebook messages you realize you've spent 20 hours encouraging one person who has yet to spend 7 minutes creating their blog or filming their scene or applying for that job.

Those who want to do it do it. I'm doing this stuff every day. Even those do-ers who have stressful office jobs and grumpy kids to feed still find ways to put the hours in.

There are some people I know who I love to pieces, they're genuinely wonderful, fascinating people; but they're not doing the work. They're talking about doing the work and they're talking about starting the project next month or next year-- just like they did last month and last year.

It takes so long to get good. You've gotta be busy failing and getting rejected every single day. Those who sit at home rejecting themselves before anyone else can, they're a drain on your time and energy.

Do the work. And help others who are doing the work. And appreciate that some people are suffering and hurting and struggling, and for a while they can't do the work. Everyone goes through that.

But those who say they'll do the work but never do-- those waiting for the summer to end or the Olympics to start before they work, they're just wasting away.

Everyone has a dream. You're either someone who does it or someone who tweets quotes about doing it but never does. And either way is fine. But if you're creative, you have to focus on the job. It takes so long to get great and we have to put the hours in. Ask anyone who made it and they'll tell you the exact same thing.

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Work

There are those that do the work and those that don't do the work. The difference between them is that those who do the work do the work, and the other side don't. It's that simple. 

And you can be either and most of the time you're caught dancing between the two. Constantly prioritizing and re-prioritizing and never quite figuring out where you are. But if you want to be hired, or you want to be taken seriously, you have to do the work. You have to be the writer who gets called up because the producer knows you can write them a scene at 2am ready for shooting at 6am. 

Because that's exactly how it is. There are those who do the work and those who avoid it, or delay it, or have the excuses. 

This is for me just like it's for you. Because some projects this year that should have taken five minutes took about seven months. 

The only difference between someone who does the work and someone who doesn't do the work is that the one who does the work does the work. The other one almost does it. Or does it five months from now. 

Do the work. It's why you here. Why you got into this thing. The daydreaming about red-carpets can come later, so can the moaning about bad auditions and evil producers. Forget about that and do the work.

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The Best Of Neither Worlds

I am realizing that I don't rest, and I also don't work hard. When I'm working hard I'm dreaming of resting, and when I'm resting, I'm not resting at all; because I feel guilty for not doing anything. So my life goes like this..

Do some writing.... But keep flicking around on Facebook trying to get out of my brain.... Tell myself I need a break... put on a DVD.... realize I need to edit that video project..... Start editing.... Remember that I haven't read all the script contest entries yet..... read a script.... feel tired... decide to go to bed..... start getting pissed off that I haven't had a new script idea recently.... get up in middle of the night and bash out ten pages of a script... realise I need sleep... go to sleep.... wake up determined to do something amazing..... sit around feeling uninspired... write a blog post about how inspired I am... feel that I need to see my friends... arrange to see my friends..... keep emailing my film's producer whilst out with friends........

And so on! I am finding that I am not FULLY engaged in my creative work, because I always want to be doing NOTHING. But whenever the chance comes up to do nothing, I am determined to do EVERYTHING. 

So nothing gets done, and nothing gets-- errr, not done. And I've known this for a while but am realising now that, it's getting to the point where it could be a problem. 

I am realizing, of course, that both are important. But what is important, is to do them consciously. I need to allow myself to rest. That's what I am going to do tomorrow. I need to drink tea and see my friends and realize the value in those things. And I can even watch three movies back to back if I want to.

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