Hey everyone. Welcome back to the screenwriting life. I'm Meg LaFove. And I'm Lorian McKenna. And today we're going to talk to you emerging writers out there. So like let's say you're just starting out. You want to be a screenwriter. Now what? Yes. Where do you begin? So before we do that, we're going to be talking

about our weeks or what we like to call Adventures in Screenwriting. Meg, how is your week?

My week, well, I'm packing to go on a trip and I hate everything I own and it's completely filling me with anxiety.

And because now I'm like, oh, my butt looks so fat in these pants. Why don't even own them?

And, you know, I'm just kind of having an anxiety spiral about it. But you know, when I have

nightmares, if I'm, you know, everybody has certain nightmares that you have if you're anxious

or worried. Mine is standing in a closet trying to figure out what to wear. Well, the party's going on downstairs. I can't figure it out. And then I finally, the party's over and I miss the whole thing. So I'm living my nightmare right now. Don't miss the party, Meg. Don't miss the party. I'm getting on the plane, whatever I put in the suitcase, which is what always happens.

I just start to numb out and throw things in a suitcase and I zip it up.

But what I thought, why this is relevant at all screenwriting is I'm realizing I do the same thing with my projects.

It's like I'm two people.

There's the person who planned this trip,

which was like this dreamer. I'm going for it. Nobody's going to stop me. I'm going to Africa.

And I'm going to take my kids and it's going to be perfect. And we're going to see lions.

And we're going to stay in a tent in the Savannah. And it's going to be amazing. I'm going to save my money so I can do it and I have all these big ideas and I go for it and I do it and then the practical arrives and I'm like I'm just filled with anxiety I'm like wait a minute I have to get on a prop plane wait a minute I don't I have to take all get shots wait anxiety. I'm like, wait a minute, I have to get on a prop plane. Wait a minute. I don't, I don't, I have to take all, get shots. Wait a minute. There's going to be animals in a tent. Wait, does there going to be people with guns helping us? Like, what if my kids get eaten by a lion? Like, it's just like this tidal wave of doubt and anxiety about the trip is just hitting me in the face. But it's the same when I write.

Like, I'm going to do this project.

It's going to be great.

I'm going to do it so well.

And I know exactly what I'd like.

And I'm connected to it.

And I fight to get the project if it's a rewrite or whatever.

And then, of course, everybody leaves and it's like, okay, do it.

And you're like, okay, do it. And you're like, oh my God. Oh my God. Why did I do this? Why did I take this project? I don't know how to do this. I have no idea what I'm doing. I do this every time. And go to the party. Oh my God. I do it every time. And it's really hard for me in my writing to get out of the closet. It's real. I love the big like go for it and get it. But then I end up in the closet. And I end up sitting, and by the way, if I am super stressed or have a terrible thing happened to me, you will find me sitting in a closet. I don't know what this is for my childhood, but that's where I go. I sit on shoes. Like if you're at someone else's house, do you go in their closet? No, but that would be good. See, that's a good scene. You could build in a new house,

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