Okay, let's talk. I have enough crazy shit happening that I'm ready to talk about what's been happening to me...

I moved my stuff into storage in Fall 2017 bc I ran out of money. My last day in a writer's room was Nov 2015. I could no longer afford the rent of my apartment. I had development stuff happening... but like a ponzi scheme, every new paycheck was simply covering past debts.

My last development paycheck came in 2018. I've been on unemployment almost the entire time since (and I'd be dead without it). The craziest part? I've never worked harder in my life. I've been writing so many free specs & pitches & OWAs my friends think I don't exist anymore.

we have to address, as a guild ( @WGAWest), free work in general. I've created countless movies and TV shows for producers who are just "looking at the market," or "fishing for new ideas," or "testing the waters."

and the WORST part? I "sold" a movie last year. On June 9th I found out a major studio was buying a spec I co-wrote.
...I've yet to be paid. Attachments have left. Deals have changed. Producers talk as if they didn't know $ wasn't flowing. It's a year since they read the script.

I haven't had a home in 3 and 1/2 years. I don't talk to friends bc I have no good news to share. This is untenable. I assume I've damaged most of my relationships beyond repair. And I haven't said a word about it online for fear that everyone would think I was a terrible writer.

But it has NOTHING to do with talent. In fact, the only reason I feel safe enough to write this now is because I have multiple studios fighting over making a deal for a pitch into which I poured my heart and soul.

My advice after all this... stop chasing the paycheck. Write the thing that makes your soul full to the point of bursting.
They will see it.
They will buy it.
They don't want anything less.
And neither do you.