What to Do While Waiting
jk you should never just be waiting
Hollywood is closed for business, basically for the rest of the year. At least that’s what people will tell you when you want to try to get something done before 2026.
“Well, this week’s the holiday, and then there are just two weeks before the holidays…” As if two weeks isn’t enough time to send someone something, have them read it, have them decide whether they like it, talk to them about it, have a follow up meeting, and heck, maybe even agree to do something together after the holidays…
If we worked in steel manufacturing, I’m confident December would be enough time to make a big steel deal. But we don’t. We work in make believe. And so… there’s a very select window of “good” times to get things done.
But this week, calendar be damned, I sent out the feature script I’d been working on for the past couple months — so that’s off to the producers (phew!) — and am at the same time sending out another project!
Which means it’s time to sit around and wait. Everyone’s favorite part of the filmmaking process. The minute you hit send you get to start asking yourself questions… “Will they like it? Will they dislike it? Will anyone raise their hand to pay for any of this madness? Does anyone even make movies anymore? Should they? Should I instead move to a big tract of land in the middle of nowhere and focus on sustainable farming practices so that I can feed myself and my family during the upcoming water wars?” Oh am I the only one who goes to that final question? It’s worth considering!
So much of the business of filmmaking is about waiting to hear back from other people. And if you’re waiting to hear back from people about TWO THINGS AT ONCE? What the heck are you supposed to do with yourself?
Well… the answer is most certainly NOT “wait around.”
This is not to be a “HUSTLE CULTURE GRINDSET WORK EVERYDAY” bro. Breaks are good. Rest is good. Sustainability is good. Important, in fact! Cannot recommend breaks and rest enough, truly.
However, if it were up to me, you would all have the luxury of a sustainable balance of work and rest already, and so, when you send a new draft of something out, you wouldn’t feel exhausted, but instead, well-rested enough to be ready to start working on something new. Because the waiting will drive you mad. There’s no control in the waiting, only doubt. And things really do take SO LONG in Hollywood for whatever reason, that if you sit and wait around for an answer about one thing before getting to work on another thing, you are going to age quite a bit between projects.
I have found that for me, the creative process is really one of fighting inertia. Remember your high school physics? Inertia is the “property of matter by which it continues in its existing state of rest, OR MOTION, unless that state is changed by an external force.” [emphasis mine]
Inertia in this sense isn’t about not doing something, but rather, continuing to do exactly the same thing, unless acted upon. I find writing to be similar. Any time I stop completely, there’s a tremendous amount of inertia keeping me stopped. But, if I can simply move from this thing that I just sent out to the next thing, I can carry that inertia forward with me, giving me an extra momentum boost as I start the new thing.
So… unless you want to lose your mind, I don’t recommend waiting to hear from anyone about just about anything. Instead, I’d recommend WRITING THE NEXT THING.
After all, the business of being a writer in particular is one of sales. You want more quantity. The more quantity the more opportunities that people might read your thing and want it.
More writing = more material to send out = more people saying no = more people eventually, hopefully saying yes
So, I’m sussing out this week what’s next — and, frankly, whether I have time for “what’s next?” I have a feeling I’m going to be getting answers about both these things before the end of the year (despite Hollywood’s insistence on not getting things done rapidly) and so it feels a little bit foolhardy to try to add a new thing for just a few weeks only to put it away again.
What I am going to do though is dig through my spreadsheet of project ideas (I wrote all about my “development slate” methodology, and even shared a template of that here) and pull 3-5 that I like. Then I’m going to mull those over. Then I’ll probably send them to my manager to say “what do you think I should do next?” Then, knowing me, I’ll probably pick a secret, as of yet un-thought-of sixth thing to work on.
And of course, the minute I do, someone will call me with an answer about the not just one but two things I’m waiting to hear back on.
But until then, it’s business as usual.
Meaning, I’d brainstorm, then I’d outline, then I’d write a draft as fast as I could, and then I’d start rewriting. But I’m confident this process will get interrupted.
At least, that’s what I’m hoping.
What a good problem that would be.
Curious about the type of stories you have. Genre or more personal stories?