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Okay, I did well in screenplays contests and made lots of friends. Did well at Inktip. E-Query like hell. Got a manager and agent. Nothing happened. Like they were dead fishes. I started in 1998 and now we are going into 2012, but 99.9% of the thrill is gone. I don't care or want to chase the dream of selling a script for big bucks ANYMORE. because it is very difficult to re-capture the magic and youthfulness and energy and excitement... Now I'm married with the American Dream thing. Looks rosy but not really. Is it worth it. To reach old age and still - NO script SALE? At least I have a house and family and yup, the dog.

Is the thrill gone in your screenplay spec chase?

The thrill is gone The thrill is gone away The thrill is gone baby The thrill is gone away You know you done me wrong baby And you'll be sorry someday

The thrill is gone It's gone away from me The thrill is gone baby The thrill is gone away from me Although I'll still live on But so lonely I'll be

The thrill is gone It's gone away for good Oh, the thrill is gone baby Baby its gone away for good Someday I know I'll be over it all baby Just like I know a man should

You know I'm free, free now baby I'm free from your spell I'm free, free now I'm free from your spell And now that it's over All I can do is wish you well

Written by Rick Darnell & Roy Hawkins

Hey,

I certainly haven't been writing as long as you have, not scripts anyway, but it's been a few years for me now. In all of these 7 years I've been writing screenplay's nothing has happened for me, except that I've gotten better at writing.

Right now I'm 23 and a lot of times I think, "What if when I'm 35 and still in the same place with my writing?" Not to offend anyone but I also think, "I don't want to be in my 40's and still trying to get my big break." But the truth is that if I were in my 40's and I still hadn't gotten to where I wanted to be I would keep trying because writing is my passion. For me it's about making art. It's about seeing my dreams on the big screen and people enjoying those dreams, getting to hear my voice. I wouldn't be satisfied if I never got there. I do believe I will get there because I'm going to work hard and harder. Sometimes I get in slumps, feel hopeless but then I'll see a movie and I'll get this tingling feeling in my stomach and say to myself "I have to do this."

I think everyone is driven by different things. As much as I love collecting dolls, as much as I love dogs, as nice as it would be to get married and have a family, my heart wants that sale. I need to see my imagination come alive on the screen. So for me the thrill isn't gone and it's not because I'm 23. Trust me I have been through a lot and still struggling so much. The one thing I can trust to keep me going is that chase. I hope I'm not 90 when I reach the finish line, but if I am then I'll certainly die happy knowing I got there.

The thrill is still there for me, but I write because I enjoy writing and I also write poems and lyrics. Do I want to sell a screenplay? Yes. Do I want to see something I've written on the screen? Yes. However, when I write, it's not my goal. I enjoy re-reading my screenplays/poems/lyrics and I love all the characters that come to me, espicially the bad ones, who want me to tell their story. Writing is, has been and always will be a talent, a gift and a pleasure to me. Anything else that happens out of it is just icing.

Sounds to me like a little sobriety might help.

If your message is an indication of how well you write (or not) a screenplay, you need a class or two. Or a new career. Or maybe try poetry where repetition is sometimes mistaken for iambic pentameter.

I've been writing full-time since 1997, just finished the first draft of a new screenplay yesterday, and I am THRILLED!

This is hilarious. The person who said Donna White should suck it up and "get over it" because she was having difficulty dealing with a gravely ill parent is now taking the whambulance for a spin around the MovieBytes town square.

I'd suggest getting a dog to cheer you up, but your post says you already have one. Maybe Zoloft instead?

Film Directors grow old and they lose their juice. As directors get old, they lose our creative juices because their friends, relatives and business partners start dying off from old age and illnesses and addictions. Same for screenwriting, we lose our juice and thrill is gone baby. Who are u fooling "jagger-wagger" fan... Old age and the Grim Reaper sucks all of our creative screenwriting energy. How old is Donna White?

Ha, lets see George Lucas write another classic like Star Wars. Ask the screenwriter of Indiana Jones where is the juice?

The thrill is gone, baby. And the best we can do is to hire someone fresh and get him or her to create...

When Jody Hill turns 65, good luck to him.

And look at Lumet and Spike Lee's career. The thrill is gone, baby!

Maybe Donna White would agree with this. I'm sure - three hundred percent, the thrill is gone for her too.

Last year, a careless accidental death in a family lead a tornado of a writing block...(sorry I can't continue).





H Day

WOW...

What a wussy, Happy Day. You wouldn't make it through one day in Hollywood.

It isn't what you have, or who you are, or where you are, or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It is what you think about. ~Dale Carnegie~

We all have ability. The difference is how we use it. ~Stevie Wonder~

Filmmaking/Screenwriting isn't for the weak minded. The only ones that don't make it are the ones that quit. If you've been writing for as long as you say you have... then you haven't worked hard enough at your writing, making contacts, and selling yourself.

The people that you mention that you say, "the thrill is gone," they have already proven themselves.

You have not.

Hollywood is for brave - those in tuned with their talent. Discover it. Move on with your writing journey and find your god giving talent. Everyone has talent. Are you willing to discover it?

Are pro script coaches telling you that you are talented? Are agents telling you that you are gifted? Are managers telling you that you are really good? Are producers and directors raving about your work?

We all have talent - some in screenwriting, others in directing, drawing, talking, cooking, parenthood, medicine, engineering etc...

DISCOVER IT.

GOOD LUCK TO ALL.

H DAY