Vol 1 | Issue 13
As ever, I'm pre-cursering this week's issue with the caveat that this is based solely on my experiences and what I have learned talking to a range of industry players both passively and actively.
When I say everything, what do I mean?
From the perspective of a writer, there are many things that seem to cause us to exhibit strange repetitive behaviours, such as, but not exclusive to:
Refreshing our emails
Writing emails we never send
Waiting for that invitation
To be considered as 'ready'
Looking in the fridge hoping that something delicious will materialised
Having our own 'dark night of the soul' when realising that that first draft that was harder to birth than your actual children, needs yet more work
Patience and perspective are best friends with tenacity and self-belief. And together, this motley crew can get you over even the most challenging of wait times.
So what are we waiting for?
Aside from the hidden metaphor, we emerging writers are often waiting on the people who could change our lives to give us a chance. And this is where the misery is.
There's no secret as to why: Paid Work Always Comes First.
My advice: layer your work so you always have something to pivot to while you're waiting for the other thing to come back to you.
For example,I currently have:
Feature at treatment stage with a production company
An adaptation at proposal stage
Several open ended discussions with producers on feature, series, and audio ideas
A production company, and three development execs waiting to read my work
A short film in the festival scene
Another in post
Networking opportunities split across the year
Cyclical industry events to attend
Teaching
Talks
Mentoring
Podcasting
Several scripts and proposals in competitions and schemes
And the day job keeps me afloat. Yes, this IS a lot. But it's all hot one minute, cold the next. But I'm too busy to worry over how long it take someone to come back to me. Sometimes I'm relieved when I check in and they need more time!
Agents, production companies, producers, and directors
Realising that the main job of all of these professionals is not to discover the next Sally Wainwright or Stephen Knight, nor to devote hours to nurture you to a place where you can even get to the starting line is a tough pill to swallow, believe me, I know.
I'd like you to think about a coming of age film or TV show. It could be The Karate Kid, The Queens Gambit, GI Jane, Rocky, Ayr Stark from GoT, Eddie the Eagle even.
A good 50% of their story is how many levels they have to go through to get to their goal. Each one harder than the next.
So what's your next level?
I hear you. Writing the script should be enough, right? But as I've said before, you wouldn't give the keys of a new Ferrari to someone who'd just come out of the driving test centre.
Writing is about more than just writing.
If you're in doubt, search up a writer whose career you'd like to emulate, look at their CV. These are openly available on their agent's website. Skip to the beginning, how did they start?
And even then you can bet you lunch money that there was heaps more before that that just fell off the list.
For me, it looks like this:
Very few people go from learning the craft to their ultimate goal. And if they do, the wind may have just been blowing in the right direction...
Top tip: Talk to a writer who is a few steps ahead of you, ask them where they started, where they are now.
What about the work?
Ah yes. The same answer applies. Paid Work Always Comes First.
If you're working on something low budget or no budget, this can be something that will potentially slow projects right down, unless you have a SUPER producer who coordinates all departments into one window of opportunity and smashes a project out quickly. Looking at you Annie!
Otherwise, you're waiting for someone to have time to get back to doing your low/no fee project.
A girl’s gotta eat
And the same goes for you too. I have lots of fingers in lots of pies. But every single one is a juggling act of priorities based on:
How much headspace my paid day job takes up
Which project has the most fire behind it at any given moment
And sometimes it's strategic, one may be higher profile opportunity, even if theirs isn't as certain as one of the other projects
And lastly, but most importantly, family. There'd be no point in doing all this if you have no one to share it with. (see the Act 3 crisis point of that coming of age story)
What can we do?
Understand the industry calendar. Spring through to Autumn is prime weather for production, then there are industry events like Cannes, LIFF, etc that take people away from their desks.
Reading often happens in bursts. Someone may genuinely intend to read your script...
...then filming starts.
...or Cannes happens.
...or a commissioner dumps ten scripts on their desk.
Be mindful that the industry is jam packed full of people working beyond their paid hours, juggling many projects. Finding time to read your script AND give you feedback, or slotting you in for a general, takes a great deal of consideration.
Keep your ask simple.
Make sure you are the right level for the opportunity you are applying for.
I've spoken to many a producer who says they feel terrible that emails go unread, but they have no time to deal with them, and that's where they stay.
Which is why networking is more valuable than emails.
Task for this week: workout what your coming of age story looks like. What levels have you still yet to reach before you're noticed?
Most importantly, don't give up. It takes seven years to train as a doctor, longer if you want to specialise.
The hardest part of building a screenwriting career is learning how to keep moving while everyone else is busy.
So, what's your next move? Let me know.
Helen
Next up... L Plates and P Plates: Knowing Where You Are as a Writer
© Helen Tompson 2026 | Feel free to share this newsletter with other writers. If you'd like to reproduce or quote larger sections, just drop me a message first.