You've covered this somewhat in Part 16, but that experience was a long time ago and a great deal has changed since then. The experience of a first-time writer with a spec that's used as a writing sample often does lead to writing assignments but not necessarily to the making of a living (if we're not making a living, someone else has to make it for us). It's tacky to talk money, but reality is often very tacky. As a career choice, what are we getting into? A quick glance at the WGA guide to minimums, and knowing jobs may come few and far between for many years, can be quite sobering. Then take a look at what Guild and health insurance contributions are, and then consider what your agent and manager will take from that. Now think of the costs of software, classes, travel, time off from work for meeting, and networking. I've been told to bank every precious dime from every option and sale because you cannot control what's around the corner. So what are the best jobs for working your way towards your passion? The ones that take the least out of you? What's the lifestyle of a hopeful writer? Marriage and family, or is that irresponsible? A couple hundred grand for film school, or avoid debt at all costs (was that a pun?). I'd like to see something that integrates stories of spec script sales with lifestyle choices, and whether or not it's best to follow one's dreams as a dedicated hobby or a career. There are a lot of WGA working writers out there who are barely scraping by, but they don't make for great stories in the trades. I'd keep writing because it's who I am not what I do, but I do so every single day asking myself what I'd do with this day if I knew I'd never make a dime off of it. Then head off for the day job I know will feed the passion without taking away my wind.

Cyd, no doubt it's tough to make a living in Hollywood as a screenwriter or TV writer. You just have to deal with that. One tack is as you suggest: If you do sell something and break into the business, don't quit that day job. In fact, perhaps the best psychological place to be in relation to screenwriting is to have a steady income from elsewhere, that way you're not utterly dependent on the whims of a cyclical business. I remember reading something about William Goldman where, at least at some point in his career, when asked what he did for a living, he would reply, "I'm a novelist." This although he was [and still is] one of the top screenwriters in the trade. His rationale: He never wanted to be beholden to Hollywood. If things shake out well and you've managed to line up 2-3 paid gigs, perhaps you can consider going full-time as a writer. While the numbers are relatively small [in the thousands], the fact is there are screenwriters who live in LA [and elsewhere] who just write for a living. Even though overall income among screenwriters is somewhat depressed over the last 5 years or so, you can still make a great living working on assignments, selling pitches and spec scripts, script doctoring, etc. In fact you don't even have to have a bunch or hardly any movies actually get produced to do very well for yourself. Justin Marks detailed this scenario in a recent THR column, an experience common to many screenwriters. So yes, it's a significant challenge to break in to the business and to build and sustain a career. But it is doable. That's why one of the major areas I focus on here in the blog and in my teaching through Screenwriting Master Class is how to think and work like a professional screenwriter. It's one thing to focus energy on the actual writing of a script, obviously important. But to maximize one's chances at continued success once you break in, you need to get your shit together about the ins and outs of day to day life as a Hollywood screenwriter. Hence the Business of Screenwriting series, Reader Questions, and a big part of my focus in The Quest and other workshops I run through SMC. Bottom line: Do it because you love it. If you make money at it, great. If not, you're still doing something you love.

That's my take on it as well, do it because you love it, with a twist -- love it because it's who you are, not what you do, and you'd be miserable without it in your life. Perhaps the word hobby is a bit of a turn off. Aeronautics is a hobby for some, but if it's not approached with a clamped down attitude of professionalism, you're not going to stay in the air. Perhaps avocation is a better choice, and as far as avocations go, screenwriting carries the probability of at least breaking even and the possibility of a stable career. The THR article you've cited is fantastic and one we passed around as a reality check when it was first published. It was a personal Aha! moment for me that backed up something I'd already written about elsewhere. After a consult and hearing an analysis of one of my scripts, I realized everything I'd written was a re-boot of a certain type of movie I watched obsessively as a kid, and I loved every minute of the writing. No matter which way the winds of caprice blow on those projects, the struggles and pleasure of the writing itself are something nobody can ever take away from me, or anybody else who follows that path. Goldman always has had his pulse on the future. He changed so much of what we now take for granted in films. Nobody had heard of the Sundance Kid before him, and who can't finish this line, "My name is Indigo Montoya ____." He nailed the reason for the decline of Broadway decades before it started to slide. I think it was his novel The Color Of Light that convinced me a day job that exposed me to as many stories as possible was a good plan. The protagonist is an obsessive writer with a lover suffering horrific cluster headaches. He tries to be empathetic, but in the end he knows it all just material. That said, real estate, paralegal work, and asset management are terrific jobs to work while building your business of writing. They have flexible hours and you get to hear everybody's story in depth and be nosy about their secrets without apology :-)