Ask a Mentor
The Hardest Part
Mentor Jamie Rhonheimer has some advice about what to do while waiting for your next job.
(9/18/2020)
All writers know the anxiety that comes with waiting for work. That familiarity, however, doesn’t make enduring those periods any easier. Mentor Jamie Rhonheimer (The Ranch, How I Met Your Mother) suggests some things to do to help you bear the discomfort of being in between jobs.
Question: “How do you handle the stress of waiting on the next job to come along?”
Jamie Rhonheimer: For better or for worse, you’ve chosen a career full of uncertainty. Every writer I know has had periods of being hot and periods when their careers cooled off. And these ebbs and flows continue at pretty much every level of the industry.
The best advice I can give for the cold times is to always come back to your writing. Be confident in your ability. Believe that, with your skills, you can write your way out of anything. Pick good projects to focus on and just write. Separately, I would also suggest keeping your network polished. Make sure everyone in your circle knows you’re available. And when you hear about a project or opportunity for which you think you could be a fit, be aggressive with your representatives and utilize your own personal connections to try to get your material in the right hands.
And when you’re doing those things, and you reach a point where there’s nothing more you could possibly do, try to recognize that and give yourself a break from the fear and anxiety. They don’t actually serve you. You can only control what you can control, so in down moments, take some of the pressure off. (This is advice that’s easier to give than take.)
Send your questions about the craft, job hunting, your career, or Guild service to Connect (under 100 words, please) with the subject “Mentor,” and we’ll send them to an established screen or TV writer to answer. Questions might be edited for space or clarity and will be published anonymously. WGAW mentors provide informal career advice and are not expected to read scripts, give notes, hear pitches, or help find representation or work.
Missed a previous “Ask a Mentor”? Read answers to these questions.