Beat the chicken so it will lay eggs faster

Now we all know that doesn't work. Logic prevails, but only so far. As the players involved change, expectations and need destroy logic. The higher up the food chain the more logic fails.

I see and hear them. Fumbling over descriptive words stripped to a minimalist state. Seeking that one word or phrase that explodes a world of images in the reader's mind. Laboring over structure and characterization. Hours. Days. Months. Sometimes years.

Now a call from the agent. They can't represent a writers who isn't producing. They can't keep them on the register if they're not bringing in money. These agents are suffering the consequences and don't like it. Pressure from above. They call the screenwriter and deliver veiled threats.

Let's all remember that fear stifles creativity. Fear stifles desire. Fear stifles the art end of anything. And now the writer is afraid that they won't make the grade. That they will lose their insurance through the WGA. That they will be dropped from the agency, confirmed when the lonely drum roll and flute dirge arrive as the background music to the rewrite notes.

Frustration and fear. The agent calls. They read the notes too. The freak out builds. Emotions escalate. There is no way you can write when you are fighting for your life.

Do I want to be a part of all this? If I want to see my work produced, I'll write for theater. Or sneak in the back door and write a book first and sell it to the people who want to find a screenwriter to flog. No wonder screenwriters are considered odd. Knowing what they willingly put up with qualifies them as dangerous social misfits.