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Day in the Life of a Freelance Writer

July 27, 2018 by Amy Suto 4 Comments

san francisco cliffs — *cliffs outside of San Fran*

Hello friends! I’m back from doing some travel (San Fran for work, Tahoe for play) and also just moved into a new apartment with my best friend who also happens to cook the best Italian food you’ve ever tasted.

I thought I’d share a little bit about what my days are like as I’m in a weird hiatus period for the TV show I work on, which is more and more the norm for those of us who work on shows with short orders that don’t fit into the traditional, 22-episode broadcast television season.

When I’m not working in a writers’ room, I work on my own projects and moonlight as a ghostwriter. My bread and butter is ghostwriting people’s memoirs and helping them find the right words to tell their stories. I work for fascinating clients I can’t really talk about here, but they include accomplished lawyers, former professional athletes, and people dealing with great loss and tragedy and finding strength through their experiences.

Oh, and I also write blog posts and short stories and op-eds for various companies and publications, so I keep busy. What’s nice is that I only take on work I believe in, and every writing project I’m working on I love. I also get to make my own schedule, which is so important.

Here’s a day-in-the-life of what it’s like being a freelance writer/ghostwriter:

//7am: coffee & planning the day

I have a Google home, so as soon as I wake up I tell it “good morning” and it turns on all my lights, my coffeemaker in the kitchen, and starts playing the news. (Creepy or efficient? Probably both but the faster I can get caffeinated the better my morning is.) It takes about 30 seconds of hearing about how much of a mess the world is in to get me to get out of bed and stumbling toward the coffee that’s waiting for me in the kitchen.

Coffee in hand, I immediately get to work plotting out my day. I use a BestSelf journal to track habits, record what I’m grateful for, and set my intentions and goals for the day. I’ve been using these for the past six months and love the pen-and-paper organization. I always have a mess of projects, to-do list items, habits, and other responsibilities I need to hold myself accountable to get done. It’s important to me to get everything I have to do on paper and out of my head so I can clear up brainspace for the work I have to do. [Read more…]

Writers’ Life: How Your Examined Life Informs The Stories You Tell

June 20, 2018 by Amy Suto 2 Comments

Just like you are what you eat, you write what you live. While I believe that write what you know is a narrow way to approach the vast expanse of stories you could be telling, I do believe that our own experiences create a prism through which we see the world and write about it.

We can’t — and shouldn’t! — spend every hour of our days writing. But the hours we don’t spend writing still show up on the page.

Our examined lives shape our stories

In my writing group, I recently dismantled the seven page outline I had written for my pilot — and rewrote it from scratch, with another character as the protagonist. This is in part because of the badass ladies of my writing group had helped me get to the point where I realized this was the best move, and in part because of what’s been going on in my own life lately. My hero went from the reclusive male protagonist to the live-wire of a woman whose life was a mess but is grappling with her priorities and how she approaches the world. I realized that my male hero was safe to write from: he was a reluctant hero, someone thrown into the story. However, the female character — as vulnerable and messy as she is — is the one who is actually moving the plot forward and putting everything on the line.

After going through a breakup, I realized that I was running from my feelings and the messiness of them — I had also been running from the messy character who was clearly my way into the story all along. So, I got vulnerable, and asked myself why I had relegated her to supporting cast for so long, and realized her story was the most dramatic, even if it was harder to tell.

I say “examined lives” because an unexamined life (aside from not being worth living, according to Socrates) doesn’t provide these kinds of revelations. As artists, we have to question everything. That’s when epiphanies happen: as things click into place after we’ve been moving the pieces around and trying to make sense of it all. [Read more…]

What Nobody in Film School Tells You About Getting a Job After You Graduate

March 22, 2018 by Amy Suto 2 Comments

There are a lot of Things They Don’t Tell You in film school about getting a job after you graduate — and mostly that’s because your professors and advisors don’t know what the current conditions of the film and television job market are, and what jobs aspiring writers, directors, etc. should actually pursue.

I loved my experience at USC’s screenwriting program because it helped me hone my craft, but what they don’t really tell you is how to get from student to Real Life Working Writer — something my graduating class and I are still figuring out, but we’re far more aware of what the trenches are like now that we’re in them.

Here’s what I wish someone would have told me when I started film school:

1. Who you know is important, but not as important as finding your voice as a creator.

At USC, the constant career refrain is: get an internship! Literally any internship! Network and learn! Every time I meet with a current student, the first thing they ask me about is what internships should they get/how many/paid vs. unpaid.

What they don’t tell you: yes, networking is important, but there’s plenty of time for that in your senior year and beyond, and what’s more important is that you’re devoting as much time as possible to your craft as you can.

Networking won’t help you if you don’t have solid creative work — and awards to show for it, if possible. You will literally never be in an environment like you are now, encouraged to focus only on your writing and filmmaking.

Spend your first three years cultivating your writing, seeking out interesting experiences, and reading as widely as possible. This will make you a better artist and creator, and now’s the time to give it your full attention.

2. Being a Hollywood assistant is like being an apprentice.

You spend four years in film school being groomed for the job you actually want to do: writing, directing, cinematography, etc. When you graduate, it feels natural to expect that you can do just that. However, there’s still a gap and a learning curve pretty much everyone has to go through at some point in the beginning of their careers, even if you’re able to jump straight to the job you want. There are dues everybody has to pay — in one way or another.

What they don’t tell you: especially if you’re a writer looking to break into TV, you HAVE to go the assistant route — at least at first. Nobody tells you the benefits of working as a writers’ assistant, showrunners’ assistant, writers’ PA — and what these jobs are and how to get them (check out my article detailing just that.)

These jobs are not only stepping stones, but they provide actual connections (unlike temporary internships) and knowledge that will help you be better at the job you want to do down the line. Think of yourself as an apprentice instead of an errand runner, soaking in knowledge when you can and constantly working on your own craft on the side. [Read more…]

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