Today we’d like to introduce you to Carrie Schrader.
Carrie, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I was one of those dreamy, goofy kids that was constantly told I was in my own little world. And I was! I would drape a white sheet over the hedge in the backyard, drag in a neighbor or mailman or maybe even a dog, and put on epic, three-hour plays. I also loved propping up a dusty chalkboard in my basement ‘school,’ and pretending I was a wise and wonderful teacher, a beacon of enlightenment who inspired and educated others.
Flash forward many years later: I sold a feature-length film called The Founders, which I co-wrote and directed; I was doing spots for Netflix, shows on AMC Networks, and field producing reality programs like Say Yes to The Dress; and I was teaching at respected institutions like UNG, SCAD, and Emory. My childhood dreams were coming into fruition.
But then I hit a plateau. I was often doing a lot of work just to get work, and with the birth of my daughter, I had less and less time to do the work, let alone find work that I really enjoyed. Being with my daughter was really important to me and playing with her helped me feel more creative, but I had zero time or brainpower to be creative.
I wanted to be able to make more money, in less time, while doing the things I really loved! I already had a lifetime of therapy under my belt, having devoured every spiritual, motivational, self-help book and Ted-talk out there (I still love ‘em!), a great education (never thought I could get into Columbia!), and a team of fabulous mentors and co-creators (I would name drop here but that’s tacky)! With all of this in my arsenal, I felt like I should be able to get unstuck on my own, but it wasn’t until I read Jen Sincero’s “You Are A Badass” that I realized, through her hilarious and inspiring story, that I needed to hire a coach.
So I did! And it transformed my life! Through coaching, I was able to clarify my goals, strategize a plan to reach those goals, and take daily and weekly steps to get there. My creativity finally had an outlet, and I began living more joyfully and doing more of what I loved.
Through this process, I realized that there weren’t any coaches out there who also do story consulting for writers or directors. You can pay someone to give you feedback on a script/story, and you can hire a life coach, but nowhere do the two meet. What if I combined them? And so I developed my one-on-one coaching concept: help writers with goal setting, strategies for success, and money making, in order to get them past their sabotaging voices to create healthy habits! Then combine all of that with effective one-on-one story consulting in which I read their work and provide constructive, consistent, helpful story notes and critiques.
I decided I wanted to be able to combine all that therapy and self-helpery with my education, years in teaching, and my experience in film and television, into a vehicle geared toward helping storytellers succeed. I gleaned the best-of-the-best resources I cultivated over the years in order to create a toolbox for my clients, then integrated curated, weekly one-on-one sessions based on my clients’ goals in order to help them do the things they love, get paid more money, and have the time to do the other life stuff that makes them happy. My intention is that each of my clients finds a life that they are excited to get up and face every day. And guess what? It works! When they commit and invest in themselves through coaching, it sparks an unbelievable momentum! I am still sometimes shocked by it! ALL of my clients (all types of writers at all different levels) are doing amazing things and are attracting unbelievable opportunities because of it!
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Sometimes you know something is right because, once you decide, once you make that all-or-nothing-I’m-shakin’-in-my boots-but-doing-it-anyway decision, it just…. flows. I have to say that’s how it’s been with Write That Damn Script. I built it, and they came. I think it works so well because it addresses a very tangible need: writers need help, inspiration, encouragement, community and quality feedback.
However, getting to the decision to start this business was scary, and I questioned whether I would be able to actually help people. What if they didn’t start reaching their goals? I had a lot of self-doubts, and those fearful voices were determined to drive that bus right off the road! Thankfully, I have a lot of resources, not only from all the self-help goodies, a great community, and solid support systems but from my own experience with coaching. It worked for me, so I knew it could work for others. It also helps that my career in film and tv has given me a thick skin! So I told those voices: “Hey, thanks for trying to protect me but I got this, so take a seat in the back and hold on tight, this bus is GOIN’!” Then I FULLY committed to myself, this business, and the highest good for all, and wow, it took off. We (my clients and I) are flying!!!
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Write That Damn Script story. Tell us more about the business.
I specialize in coaching storytellers to create habits that serve their goals and also provide really solid constructive story notes. My time as a script reader for Focus Features, along with over 20 years of experience critiquing, makes me an incredibly effective story consultant. I’m proud of that. I love telling stories and I love helping people tell their stories better.
It’s hard. Writing is like pinning jello to a tree: you think you’ve got something, then it falls apart, or becomes something else entirely! Helping writers go the distance and supporting them in tough rewrites is a big part of what I do. As I mentioned earlier, you can pay a professional to give you story notes (usually anywhere from $250-1,000 for one critique), but then when you make those changes to your story, you have no idea if they are actually working. Often rewriting solves one problem only to create ten others! Having consistent feedback is so important. That’s what I offer to my clients. I work with people of all types, at all different levels – memoirists, novelists, tv/film writers, podcast creators, and even directors.
What sets Write That Damn Script apart is that in addition to being a coach and story consultant, I’m also a working writer/director and a mother. I am constantly facing the same challenges between time, creativity and money that my clients face every day.
When I first started to take art classes, way back in high school, I realized there were teachers who were actually thwarted artists who loved to take their bitterness out on their students by giving mean spirited critiques, dismal predictions about job prospects, and just generally dumping all their junk on us! They were teaching out of fear and desperation. Then there were the teachers who were really alive in their art: failing, succeeding, it didn’t matter because they were TRYING. They taught from passion and excitement and loved to share their hard-earned wisdom. I knew I wanted to be that second kind of teacher. In order to maintain that purity of intention, I promised myself that as long as I was teaching, I would also be actively pursuing my art.
I apply this same ideology to my coaching: I have to be working as a writer/director in order to provide worth to my clients. For instance, one of my tv pilots was selected for The Orchard Project Episodic Accelerator Lab in NYC. I am here now, in this amazing incubator, gaining a ton of resources from show-runners, executives, managers, agents, fellow writers, and story and business tools from industry institutions like HBO and Audible to Creative Artists Agency. The best part about it is that I get to pass on all of this information to my clients. They get a very current, valuable view into this crazy, fabulous, multi-platform, multimedia storytelling business.
Community is another important component to success, so my clients are also connected with each other to give feedback, work on each other’s films, and provide support. I plan to expand this aspect of my business next year with online meet-ups, self-led courses, and group workshops.
So, what does a coaching session actually look like? Go onto www.writethatdamscipt.com and sign up for a free consultation and you will find out!
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
Luck…hmm.. I like to think of luck as that little voice inside each of us that points us in the right direction, that says, ‘go there… do this… talk to this person…stand up, be strong, you got this’. Wow, it isn’t easy listening to that voice. It is hard to obey because we are wired to second guess, rebut with a list of negative past experiences, and run away as fast as possible!
I am a spiritual person, and while I don’t have the answers, I do know that when I align myself with luck or the Universe or the Great Creator… whatever you wanna call it…then my life works better and I am of greater service to others. When I don’t do this, when I try to jam the puzzle pieces of my life together on my own, it never works. Forcing solutions always backfires. Making decisions out of fear or despair usually ends in more worry, fear, and despair. The way out of that is through practice. Waking up every day, tuning into the love that we all share, asking to be of service, and then trying my very best to do that, even if I sometimes fail. I love my career, and I love Write That Damn Script because that’s what I get to help people do, every day.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.writethatdamnscript.com
- Phone: 4049843028
- Email: contact@writethatdamnscript.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/writethatdamnscript/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/writethatdamnscript
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/WriteDamn
- Other: https://www.writethatdamnscript.com/blog
Image Credit:
Brittany Knapick
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