I’m not sure where I heard this, but when I have a student who is confused about what to do next on an assignment I usually say, “Confusion is the first step towards knowledge.”

Rejection is part of the business of writing. Especially screenwriting.

But that doesn’t make it feel anymore painful.

I don’t know if there are any “tricks” to dealing with rejection. It’s either something that breaks you, or it encourages to keep at it.

Regardless, the sting of rejection hurts. And it hurts a lot if you’ve been rejected from something you really, really want.

Our word “expert” comes to us from the Latin word experiri, which translates to the infinitive verb “to try” or “to attempt.” To be an expert means you are someone who is attempting to do something.

It’s okay to get tired and burnt out from everything. Our fuel is our feelings, and that fuel burns out during stressful times. Don’t try to ignite the flames when the gaskets will blow and the engine will never work again.

My boys don’t know what’s really in the ocean; they’re ignorant to the dangers - sharks, unimaginable depths, etc. When they run into the ocean they don’t think, “I hope I don’t get bit by a shark today” or “what if I get caught in an undertow and drown?”

Yesterday I hopped on a Zoom meet-up with fellow screenwriters across the globe. It was great to not only talk to other screenwriters but to listen to their current situations and stories. We didn’t share drafts of a work in progress. We didn’t give each other feedback on what could be done better. We didn’t prod into stories to find cracks in logic. We just talked…like human beings rarely do.

Humans love repetition.

We eat the same foods over and over again. We watch the same episodes of television over and over again. Our clothes. Our hobbies. Our stories. They all repeat similar tastes, patterns, preferences, aesthetics, themes, ideas. Repetition is safe because it’s familiar.

In my (virtual) class a student decided to write an essay based on a writing prompt I shared with the class. The only problem is that I didn’t assign the essay yet. I just showed it to them and we talked about it for maybe 10 minutes? This student didn’t ask for clarification, didn’t ask for a due date, didn’t ask how long the essay should be (a rarity in a high school English class), and, get this, the student didn’t even ask if the essay was going to be graded. Hell, she didn’t even complain about writing an essay the second week of school.

The organization I work for LOVES to do community circles anytime we have a meeting or training. Community circles are a culture-building activity and protocol that allows participants to connect and discuss how they’re feeling about each other, their employer, a particular situation or circumstance, etc.

You will never have enough time. Get used to it, acknowledge it, embrace it. Time is something we have both in abundance and in scarcity. To be human is to be at the mercy of time’s authority.