I've taught a bit, and (like every writer), I've met those people who say "Oh, yeah, I quite fancy the idea of being a writer, I'm gonna write a script one day, when I have the time..." And I think the difference between "people who like doing a bit of writing", and "writers", boils down to passion. You have to have passion for the script you're working on, for storytelling in general, and for the process of writing. I meet a lot of people who want to *have written* something, not who want to *write*. Writers have passion for the process - for sitting down and turning ideas into pages. We like all the trappings of fame, of course (if we're lucky enough to get them), but a real writer doesn't want to be at a Hollywood party, or hanging out with the stars - where we really want to be is at a desk, having a good writing day. Living that passion. Because why else would we do this crazy job, if we weren't passionate about the process?

Passion = not worrying about what time you clock in, what time lunch is, or watching the little hand get closer to 5 o'clock. Passion is one of the reasons I HATE Facebook sometimes: I see so many people bitching and complaining about their jobs when so many others would give so much to have one. If you hate your job, QUIT it! Go find something else to do that makes you happy. If you're going to say it doesn't pay as much - well, that's probably part of the problem: you're doing your job for all the wrong reasons. And before you know it, you'll become a slave to the job because all the nice stuff you bough that surrounds you is really owned by the bank - until you pay it off - which means getting up. Punching the clock. And bitching about it on Facebook. :) You'll become one of those zombie commuters, you know, the ones you see on the freeway with no emotion whatsoever staring blankly ahead. Sure, you might come across that one guy, the long-haired one thrashing his head back and forth to some speed metal - you know him, too - and you might even laugh at him. But you know what? He's got passion. You'll find yourself living your life like a bad screenplay Producer Scott mentioned above with certain things happening by certain pages. At age 30, you'll marry. By 35, you'll buy your first house. Nine months after christening the new master bedroom, little junior is looking at you with his beady little blue eyes as if to say "that's right motherfucker, Imma gonna keep yo ass up at night." You'll grow into the later stages of zombidom, finding yourself drooling on your keyboard at work as you stare at your Facebook page about to press enter on your status update, only to realize you've said the same thing for every day for the last month straight: Ob-la di, ob-la da, life goes on, brah! In short, you will have lost all sense of feeling and your Starbuck's Caramel Machiatto with half and half, the one reason for actually going to work anymore will suddenly taste like those rice cakes you've been eating to lose weight (meaning, they'll taste like someone else's stale burps). See, this is exactly the sort of thing that happens when you don't have passion. Having passion means being alive, feeling things, experiencing things... not just going through the motions or living life. What Producer Scott said is absolutely paramount: "MAKE ME FUCKING FEEL SOMETHING!!". Why? Because all those zombies you see out there in the real world, the ones driving to work every morning? They're depending on you. They're looking to you to given them something they can't feel otherwise and that's what great stories do: allow other people to experience things, particularly emotions, that they otherwise would not. They're stuck on that freeway called life, idling in bumper to bumper traffic and they're craving for something else to escape to and I'll give you a hint: it's most likely not some other car idling on the very same freeway. Passion. If only every Facebook status was updated with some... the world would be a much better place. :)

Thank you for this, Scott, and for The Quest in general. I look forward to entering, whatever comes of it.

TBBB, I have a confession: I loathe Facebook. Seriously. I love Twitter. I don't really understand Google+. But I actively really don't like FB. They change the interface it seems like every 2 days. It's too damn confusing now, and I know I run the risk of coming off like a really old fart, but I don't care. I just don't like FB. The one thing social media in general does for screenwriters is elevate to the next level how entertaining our stories have to be... to grab the attention for 100 minutes of some young person who is used texting, FB updating, etc every 2 minutes. Hey, I'm as bad as the next person. But to me, it's a relief to sit down for a movie. No distractions, just a good story in which to lose myself.

Right about that, Debbie. Why would ANYONE choose to write stories if they didn't have passion for the craft? It's hard, largely thankless, lonely, requires enormous persistence, patience, and internal fortitude, plus it's hugely competitive. It has to be almost an obsession, I think.

All week I sat in anticipation of the next installment of the Quest. 4 down, 1 more to go. Scott, you are a rarity... Producer Scott, you seem like one nasty son of a bitch! And I can only hope I have the pleasure of working with you these next 6 months. You want to feel something? I'll make your balls drop with intensity and emotion. Or something. You know what I mean. David.

David, actually Producer Scott is pretty much all bark... and some bite. You know that bit in Spinal Tap about going one louder to 11? That's him, he gets agitated pretty easily, but he's a movie guy through and through.

One of my favorite quotes has come to mind twice now in the context of screenwriting (the first time was a few Scriptnotes podcasts ago): "Every production of genius must be the production of enthusiasm." --Benjamin Disraeli

I always thought passion was the wrong word to describe the screenwriter's inner need. After all, passion can burn brightly and fleetingly and be gone in an instance, whereas the desire to write necessarily pervades one's core in a compulsive way. I knew I was a screenwriter (albeit a fledgling writer) at that moment when I discovered I'm not really interested in talking about anything else. When I'm not writing I'm thinking about writing.

Great quote and I'm going to find a way to promote that with a HT2U!

pliny, passion is a funny word I suppose because in some contexts, it is something than ebb and wane. But when I interview screenwriters as I have been doing the last few years, you'd be surprised at how often they use that word. Dustin Lance Black. David Seidler. Both used it to describe Milk and The King's Speech - total passion projects. So I totally get your point, and yet maybe there's a way of re-framing the word so it takes on a deeper, richer meaning when it comes to creative arts.

imho, we use the word passion because of our inherent conceit that as screenwriters we are artists and what we create is art, which implies that we're romantic figures. Using the words obsession and compulsion makes us look like escaped mental patients.

I've been on FB for a long time, so it's hard to get away from using it primarily to keep up with friends, family, former co-workers and classmates, etc. G+ I use primarily for keeping in touch with other writers. We've done some good film analysis with Dramatica users on it. Twitter, I don't use too much (even though I log in through here). I think partly because I see it very useful for self-promotion or just sharing stuff. Being the last of the three I picked up on, I just spend less time using it (for now). I do see it as the water-cooler of the internet, though.

wait, let me get this straight... we're NOT mental patients? maybe that should be my new writing mantra. ;) #whiteboardworthy

We're not the only ones who want to use the P-word: http://www.fastcompany.com/1837853/8-rules-for-creating-a-passionate-work-culture

If I didn't have passion for this, I wouldn't do it. It's torture.

I like "passion," it gets across the obsessive need for something now and immediate: the script you're working on. However, for writing in general, maybe the word "love" is better. It says that we're in it for the long haul. No matter how many times the struggle of creating a living, breathing story sucker punches us in the Adam's Apple, we pick ourselves up and come back for more. We continuously chase the memories of those good times--My story loves me! You'll see! It's just misunderstood is all!--and we forget about the bad.

No need to reply Scott, but just wanted to commend you on The Quest idea. Very generous (and even more brilliant of you on several levels).