Enough To Go On
Sci-fi screenwriter Jenna Avery on developing “enough to go on” with screenwriting.
My screenwriting adventure continues.
I’m in an in-between place with writing right now. While I’m putting my focus more and more on the craft and marketing of my work as a screenwriter — exactly what I want to be doing at this point — summer is also here, which means my schedule always gets a little blown up by kids being home more. We’ve had the added complication of having our first-ever Covid cases in our household, so things are a little wonky right now.
Do I wish I was farther along? Yes, of course.
But the big shift I’m most happy about is the internal one, and that’s the one I’ve been most wanting to make. I’m now farther across the bridge to Jenna as screenwriter than I was when I last wrote to you. Back then I’d say I was standing at the edge of the chasm, thinking I’d have to entirely Indiana-Jones-it across.
Sure, I had plans, but now I have actions and steps I’ve been taking (more on this below).
Now I feel like I’m, I don’t know, maybe 30% of the way across the bridge? What’s happened is that I’m less and less thinking of myself as a coach or editor (though I’m still doing and loving those things — I’ve read three scripts for clients lately, two about AI, so interesting, so different!), and thinking of myself more and more as screenwriter.
For me, at least, this mindset shift feels critical because it informs what I’m doing with my day, the choices I’m making about where to put my focus and spend my money. It’s also a result of those things. So, here’s what’s happening.
- I’m working on my “second” script. It’s silly to call this my second script, because I’ve worked on more than one script, but some of my past screenplays fall into the “learning scripts” category, and two of my scripts belong to others (meaning they’re not my original intellectual property). Which means I currently have one “ready for market script” and want to have a second one ready to go ASAP. I’m re-conceiving a story I’ve been skirting the edges of for the last couple years after having put it aside for a while. It’s nearly working now, and my goal is to have a detailed outline by the end of the September (after summer!), so I can get pages written in October. My current market-ready script took me months to outline and weeks to write, so I’m intending to follow the same path. And… we all know things happen along the way, so it remains to be seen how it all unfolds exactly. What I’m finding is that focusing on moving this story forward — with a clear goal and timeline — is helping me keep my mindset in the right place. I’m working on developing this script with my mentor. The goal is to have this script in hand before pursuing representation, which will be a next step.
- I’m taking a series of classes that are blowing my mind. I’ve taken classes with Corey Mandell before, but I’m in a better, more knowledgeable place now to properly take advantage of his classes. What he teaches is unusual and complex, but so illuminating. His approach of focusing on helping writers achieve “creative integration” feels like it’s hitting exactly the right spot for me right now, and it’s definitely part of keeping my focus on writing, writing, writing. At the same time, taking classes and doing assignments means I’m not focusing exclusively on my own script, which results in something of a balancing act, especially with summer in full swing.
- I’m entering my market-ready script into contests. I hadn’t planned to do this. I’m generally not a huge contest fan (sorry, not sorry) but I thought I’d treat this as an experiment and see what happens. My screenwriting career coach convinced me it was ready to go out there and see if we can get some attention for it. By the time you’re reading this, the script will have been entered into about five different competitions. We’ll see what happens, if anything. Fingers crossed.
- I’m (further) developing marketing materials for my market-ready script. So far, I’ve put together a solid logline, synopsis, and a “why this story, why you, why right now” response. I have a decent query letter for it but I’m going to revise it based on feedback from my career coach.
- I’m working on developing my “personal narrative” talking points and a new more “writerly” bio. I’m pretty excited about both of these, actually. Again, this is career coach stuff… and it’s helping me with the mindset piece too. There’s a periodic debate online about when you get to call yourself a writer. I’ve always taken the stance that claiming the label is something you do for yourself, not something you wait to be anointed with or earn somehow. But… and… it’s so important that the story we tell ourselves about ourselves lines up with calling ourselves writers. Framing my past and my stories about myself into the context of Jenna as screenwriter has been extremely valuable. I highly recommend it. I’ll use the personal narrative talking points for those hopefully-forthcoming “so tell me about yourself” conversations, and I’ve used the new bio for contest submissions. It’s posted on my website if you want to check it out.
- I’m keeping up with my screenwriting immersion. In addition to the classes I’m taking and the 1:1 sessions with both my mentor and my coach, I’m listening to screenwriting podcasts on my morning walks, mainly ScriptNotes and The Screenwriting Life. I’m also making an effort to read more professional scripts too, in order to boost my own perspective and insight about what makes something marketable.
- I’m staying connected to my faith, wonder, and awe. Though this is last on the list, it’s the most important. I recently listened to a podcast interview from Cole Haddon with psychologist Dacher Keltner about the importance of awe, and it’s exactly why I love science fiction so very, very much. The chills, the wonder, all of it. THIS is why I do it. This is why I write. This is it.
These might seem like small things to you. I have no idea. But for me, they’re helping me make this big mental shift I’ve been struggling to make for Way. Too. Long. And it feels great.
Arguably there will be further bridges to cross, but this mindset one seems like a critical infrastructure piece I need to get there. One to come will be income generation. I get paid to write articles for Script. I get paid to read scripts and give notes to clients. I get paid to edit books for clients. I’ve been paid to ghost write a book. To edit marketing materials for others. I’ve been paid for writing someone’s original IP into a script in the past. But I’d really love to shift my income generation over to screenwriting, whether that’s writing for hire, writing adaptations on assignment, having my scripts sold or optioned, or even working as a script doctor or consultant again. All sci-fi, of course, with maybe an occasional dip into fantasy for fun.
But here’s the thing. We all want this, right? And some of it’s out of my hands. My job is to focus on the parts that are mine — getting my work market-ready, being ready to pitch it and talk about it, and put it out there — having enough to go on.
Let’s go!
In the between-times, find me on Bluesky, here: @jennaavery.bsky.social.
