My DIY film/writing school

Writers get treated like crap!

...but it's not something you notice unless you are a business-minded writer trying to make a career out of something you do well, and believe benefits others.

But thank God for other writers. Yesterday I was at a meeting of freelance journalists in Auckland, the first meeting of its kind, discussing, among other things, how poorly we are paid compared to inhouse journalists, and the outrageous rights we give away for the small amount we get.

Unbelievable. And yet, I've known about these issues before; it was only being in a group of 200+ writers that I really took it seriously. That when I accept a bad contract, I'm making it harder for all of these other people as well as myself. Gee, I sound like a union rep.

But the same issues are true for screenwriters, both here in New Zealand and in Hollywood. Apparently the UK is really good to their writers, which is somewhat reassuring.

The answer is knowledge and confidence. So, through events like yesterday, books like The Writer Got Screwed and online resources like the Artful Writer, I'm getting armed up with knowledge.

And I'm writing first today, before getting onto the emails, phone calls etc. One hour.

PS: No writing yesterday because 1) stayed up till 2am the night before, 2) out all day, 3) one too many glasses of smooth red wine at the drinks after the conference yesterday (one too many for me is two glasses!).

posted by Simon @ 10:45 am