Learning to drive is stressful and, if you can avoid it, never teach someone to drive. You'll have at least one near miss, and at least three screaming fits. Send them to a driving school.
That said, one of the most important things you learn driving is MERGING INTO TRAFFIC. This can be particularly stressful even for seasoned drivers as you merge into fast-moving interstate traffic. You're going up the on-ramp at 30-40 m.p.h. and now you've got to merge into traffic going 70 p.m., or. more as most regard speed signs as mere suggestions.
What do you do? You're tempted to slow down to a stop and wait for a spot when it's all clear. But in a busy city... it'll never be all clear. Plus, there's traffic behind you trying to do the same thing. It's stressful and dangerous, and your split-second decisions can have a lifetime (or deathtime) impact.
You must speed up to the prevailing speed of the traffic and - somehow - merge onto the interstate.
So, what's this got to do with screenwriting? Or any writing?
We're competing with professionals. Getting my M.F.A. a few years ago at U.G.A. I realized that nobody has ever "made it" in the industry. Every writer - even those with big past success - is hustling for the next gig and is one flop away from irrelevancy. You have heat, you lose heat, and few can regain heat again once lost.
We have to speed up to merge. We have to improve the quality of our writing to a professional level, or it'll get run over. It'll get cast aside quickly as "not pro-level" execution. It isn't enough anymore to just have a great concept. You have to execute it at a professional level.
For me, that's draft after draft - with pro-quality coverage notes between drafts - and 30 to 40 drafts later I've got something ready to be seen.
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