There are two kinds of writers in this world - talented
writers and bad writers. Within those two categories exist two more categories
- good and evil writers. Finally, within those
two exist the last groups - competitive and cooperative writers. This means
you're either a talented good competitive, a talented good cooperative, a talented
evil competitive, a talented evil cooperative, a bad good competitive, a bad
good cooperative, a bad evil competitive or a bad evil cooperative writer. The
system, I'll admit, isn't perfect. Let us collectively wallow in the impending
explanations as to whether it's better to be cooperative or competitive.
1) Career Timing is
Everything
Writing isn't like typical business - at least not the kind
of arrogant, self-promoting dickery you'd exclusively find in the 1950s or on
every series of the Apprentice. You can't come out of the gates wanting to take
over the world, because you just won't be talented enough to do so yet, no
matter how much praise your parents and that one geography teacher smothered
you with. A formal education in writing looks good on paper, even if it isn't
what will sell your work (spoiler alert: your work will have to do that). No,
your education is really about building up a network of like-minded individuals
you can be co-operative with.
Once you've discovered the virtues of working together with
fellow writers, as if your career was the subject of a Lifetime Movie, there
will be a horrible limbo period where you feel you may have to betray that
trust a little. This is when you've left education and are trying to make it on
your own. Naturally, you probably won't directly
sabotage anyone else's chances of getting a job, but you may choose to be a
little more withholding when it comes to opportunities you've come across. Your
karma won't be out of balance for too long, hopefully, as the moment you've
found a comfortable "in" with the industry, you're in a better
position to give that old, pathetic friend you backstabbed the leg-up they need
or deserve.
2) Competitions
Let us analyse this dark limbo period in a little more
detail. Exemplifying the amount of luck required in "making it" are
writing competitions. If you have the natural talent to beat out staggering
odds and climb to the top of the desperate pile, then congratulations - you
genuinely, truly deserve to be a writer. Employers and Agents look at
competition wins very positively, providing they're relevant to writing and not
just OK magazine's weekly Sudoku. Obviously, some awareness of these odds may
put the required amount of pressure on your work, forcing you to be your
absolute best - that's just natural competition.
So is it even possible to look at competitions as a cooperative
opportunity, more so than a competitive one? Many competitions allow entries
from writing partners or even small teams, which can help build up your
pre-existing working relationships. Will it double your chances? Unlikely. The
end product is what matters, and cultivating a consistent, singular narrative
voice between two or more people can be incredibly tricky. Equally, you need a
clear plan on how any prizes are to be divided, otherwise things can get
very... awkward. Nevertheless, if you and your partner(s) are unsuccessful, any
feedback the competition judges may provide could illustrate points to build on,
making your team even more formidable the next time around.
3) Film Production
Some writers genuinely forget that they are just one cog in
the filmmaking machine. The old saying of the script being a "blueprint"
which every other sector works from is still pertinent today, and no-one needs
to understand that better than writers themselves. Combine this with a collective
feeling of under-appreciation and insecurity in the industry, and it becomes
very easy for a writer to become a bitter keyboard warrior who... Oh crap, I
might be talking about myself here. I digress - weighing the value of writing
over every other facet of production, be it directing, editing, sound or even
makeup and costume, only seeks to create competition where there should be
collaboration.
The main problem is that the writer becomes something of a
loose end, once his or her job is done (unless they're a writer / director,
which is totally cheating by the way). Their "product" becomes the
director's product, which becomes the editor's product, which becomes the
marketing department's product, and so on. Writers have made a stand regarding
their appreciation in the past, such as the 2007 Writers Strike, resulting in
numerous beloved shows becoming terrible for a bit. But whilst wages and credit
are important when due, shouldn't writers just be embracing the nature of the
collaborative process, rather than coming across as petty and attention-seeking?
I don't know, you tell me.
4) The Writing
Process
On the most micro scale, this is ultimately what the battle
between competitive and cooperative comes down to. All writers, no matter how
terrible or evil, have a voice. Some are clearer and more defined than others,
granted, but everyone expresses themselves at least slightly differently. When
a partnership or group collaboration comes across their idea, everyone is going
to form a different opinion on how it should be executed. Through this
conflict, compromises are made or one side wins out. But who is to really say
what's going to work better? If one person in a group has an idea that no one
else in favour of, but continues to promote it anyway, doesn't that suggest
that the idea is actually incredibly vivid and only suffers through its current
articulation?
So, while one member of the team may come across as stubborn
and unreceptive, the other(s) may in fact be pursuing something that is
actually just more obvious, and therefore, not quite as good. I'm not trying to
fly the flag for the one difficult guy - just weigh up the validity of ideas. Equally,
if several ideas are suggested, and then purely in the interest of
collaboration, a compromise is made, isn't that just diluting the content to
the point where it isn't really saying anything?
Being cooperative doesn't have to mean everything goes in the interest of
continuing the working relationship - in fact, honesty often proves to be the
best policy. There's nothing wrong with outright rejecting your partner's idea.
Just let them down easily, but concisely, because you never know when all of
this is going to come up in a courtroom.
James Cottle, after
studying Scriptwriting for 4 years, is now an embittered real life freelance writer,
and seeks to unlearn everything he knows. But he needs your help... Follow him
on Twitter @Jxmxsc and share this blog to help spread his anarchic plight for
reform amongst the writing masses.
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