The amount of time between my Blogs varies. From as little as a couple of days to a couple of weeks. It all depends on what strikes me as a good reason to blog. I thought about it a few days ago when I was struggling to come up with a topic and decided to forget blogging until something happened organically.

Happened this morning. Another remark I read from a self professed new writer on Done Deal Pro. (Again, if you’re not visiting this website as a screenwriter you’re doing yourself an injustice, IMO). This writer had some innocuous questions about screenwriting and then got to his/her concern. Money. How much money will I make? Who gets paid the most, TV or Feature Writers?

Money. Riches. Some of that movie and TV money they throw in bushels at writers, who write while lounging in their opulent backyards by their pool.

You can generally separate new writers into two categories most of the time after talking to them.

1. Writers who love to write and create and want to see their work on the screen and are willing to put in the time and hard work to learn the craft of writing. Writers who would LOVE to make a living writing, but the money isn’t the ultimate goal. They live to write.

2. Writers who do it for what they think is the untold riches and fame they’ll get after they sell their masterpiece for millions.

If you’re in the first category, it’s easy to spot. You struggle over the craft. You vet every word of your script. Your worry about acts and turning points and character development and story. You care. You care a lot.

If you’re in the latter category. You want to know how big the checks are.

Sorry, Charlie. The checks aren’t nearly as big as you think. They can be good, if you can write well enough to get paid. But I’ve found the ones who end up getting paid are the writers in category 1.

And the chances are, even then, your first checks will be small. Non-union independent film small. A thousand to five thousand dollars small and maybe even less depending on who you deal with. I know because that’s where I started and where most of my friends who write started. Some are still trying to get started. Some have even given their scripts away for a writing credit. (Writing for nothing is another Blog, but know I am firmly against it.)

Chances also are very good your first check will be for an option and not a sale, anyway. Maybe for as little as a dollar or as much as a hundred dollars, with a few thousand due if they make the film. Most all (MOST ALL) optioned scripts never get made. Most all specs scripts never get made for that matter. So the chances are very good the most you might get for your optioned script is that dollar.

(By the way, to understand why specs have hit the tank and to understand from a knowledgeable insider why Hollywood has so radically changed in the last few years, I HIGHLY recommend Lynda Obst’s FABULOUS book, “Sleepless in Hollywood”. BUY IT. READ IT. It will open your eyes and scare you at the same time. I couldn’t put it down.)

So… If you’re trying to be a “screenwriter” for the big bucks, I’d reassess my goals if I was you. A Producer friend said to me not too long ago that “Screenwriting is the new Acting” when it comes to people trying to break in for the fame and fortune of it. (There’s a joke in there someplace) He’s never seen so many scripts. Well, bad scripts. Great scripts do tend to find their way to the top. There’s just damn few of them. Of all the scripts writers have given me to read in the last five years, I can count the great ones on two fingers. Not good ones. GREAT ones. And both of those were period pieces that right now are almost impossible to sell. (READ Lynda Obst’s Book)

Writer John Gary (@johngary on twitter) wrote a series of really harsh tweets you should look up and read on what he calls the Hope Machine, warning writers how impossible it is to attain their dreams of writing for a living. That if they’re going to write scripts, they need to do it for the joy of creation, not hopes of careers or money. (If I got your point wrong please excuse me, John) It was terrific and depressing at the same time. And a really good lesson in reality. (And read Lynda Obst’s BOOK, which I am NOT getting paid to shill, by the way)

Don’t chase dollars. It’s a chase you will not win. Yes, I will admit, I do make a pretty ok living as a screenwriter. But only in the last few years. It took me twenty years of writing poverty to get there. And… I’m still not in the WGA and have only had representation for maybe two years. After TWENTY YEARS of working at it. Learning. Writing and writing and writing.

Now… The film I wrote that goes into production later this year changes that, but for now, I get paid semi-well to write for non-union, mostly cable TV movie houses. It’s great work. Abundant work for me and an incredible training ground in Production and Development. I worked my ass off to get here and if all I was chasing was money to begin with, I would have given up a LONG time ago and be working at Home Depot.

Oh and I do have a pool, but not because of my writing.