Write Something Despite Everything

There are a lot of issues in our industry right now. Wanna write something instead of doomscrolling? Plus, a new class discount for subs

The TV Pitch Development Class is officially open for registration. Since the holidays are around the corner, we’ll start up in January. Check it out for more info, and use the promo code RESIDUALS15 to get 15% off (including the one-on-one feedback sicko mode)

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Hey Everyone,

Shit’s bleak right now, isn’t it? TV shows aren’t staffing, studios aren’t buying, money doesn’t seem to be moving out of the deep pockets at the top to the artists who support this industry. Everyone I know is feeling it. I’m feeling it, and I’m super fortunate to have a job right now, so how am I also feeling it?! (Maybe that’s a discussion for another time, I don’t want to go off on that tangent right now - ahem, ahem, waiting 7 months on a deal to close.¹)

And when I feel it, I’ve realized that I usually spend a ton of mental energy strategizing. Nobody’s buying right now? Let me figure out the one genre of tv that’s cheap to make, easy to cast, and networks will want a month from now despite not wanting today. Let me listen to 100 podcasts where people talk about what’s not working so I can try to slip between the cracks. Let me fall down an IMDb hole, connecting this person to that person until I have a meandering path to fully cast a self-produced webseries that’s a backdoor pilot for a season that’s a backdoor feature.

Was that exhausting to read? Because it’s exhausting to live. I bet a lot of you feel that same way and do that same thing, though. The drive that gets you into this business can also send you off a cliff when there’s no tangible step to take.

What I’ve learned is that strategizing has diminishing returns. Strategy is nothing compared to blowing the doors open with a great piece of undeniable writing.

So what if, despite all of jobs drying up, despite the closed doors and the pervasive pessimism, we all chose to do something optimistic?

What if we chose to write something anyway?

What if we all decided to say fuck it, and write a feature?

While I’m prepping for this TV Pitch Class in January, I could use this newsletter (and some features on Substack like chat and notes, and maybe live videos if they roll it out wider) as a way to send us all off on that journey together, week by week. It could be a fun way to test out all the community features that Substack has while building a community around a common goal: writing the damn thing.

I wouldn’t be teaching you how to write a feature, more like giving you a schedule to help you do it yourself. (Plus some tips and tricks that help me at each stage).

My idea is to base it all on a feature outlining schedule I worked up years ago with a writing group I started when I was struggling to write my first feature. It’s based on the snowflake method, where you start with a concept and over the course of 14-15 weeks you flesh out more and more until the concept turns into a synopsis, then an outline, and then a rough draft. It doesn’t create perfect script, but it DOES create finished drafts. And finished drafts are worth an infinite amount more than unfinished ideas.

Too busy to do it? I dunno, what if you did it anyway? You’ll always be busy. So maybe this is a time to build the process to get a script done around all your busy.

I’ll send out a weekly prompt for the work to focus on that week, you do the work. And when you’re struggling with the work, you jump into the chat and talk to other people to encourage each other. And when you need a set of eyes on something, you open up the discord and see if anyone wants to swap and give mutual feedback. And when you finish a draft, you feel great and realize all that time you could have spent being miserable about the state of the industry has now been focused on making something you’re excited to share with people. And then people are excited when they read it because it’s so fun and fresh and bold, and they start to feel optimistic about the state of the industry as well. Does this fix everything forever? I dunno. But probably!

But if you want to join in on this, I need to see some damn comments saying that you’re in because I’m a positive feedback person. So if you get this to your email and aren’t using the substack app, download it, join, and comment on here to let me know you want in. And then you’ll be able to use all the community features that we’ll test out. (Seriously, the app rules and there’s a feature where you can have a friendly little robot voice read these to you while you make breakfast instead of reading long emails).

Oh and also make sure you’re subscribed to the newsletter, otherwise you won’t get the weekly kick offs.

We’ll start up soon. I’ll let you know when. But for now, just let me know if you want to join in.

About Chris Amick

Chris is a screenwriter living in Los Angeles. He and his writing partner recently served as Head Writers and Co-Executive Producers on Kung Fu Panda: the Dragon Knight. Previous work includes Final Space, Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts, Die Hart 2, Adult Swim specials, and a TBA action comedy feature for Universal.

Chris also teaches various screenwriting courses online, which you can check out here:

• TV Pitch Development: Live Class (Registration open for January 2025)

• Staff Writer Bootcamp

• TV or Film Pitch Development

• Scene Writing Fundamentals

• Screenplay Format Workshop

1. My record is 12 months. A full calendar year. That’s twice as long as Quibi lasted.