The Picket Line for Paramount Pictures. (Inset: Alan Divener)
Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images.Suzanne Strong
WGA members have great imaginations. This union is full of people who spend many hours of their day thinking about what if. again and again. A good “what if” question, like, “What if the night before you started your surgical residency in Seattle, your doctor slept with a man with dark hair, and he became your new boss?” With a potential 19th season, more “what if” questions are likely to arise, and a wide variety of jobs await, not just for writers, but also for actors, producers, and directors.
Writers bring their restless imagination to many aspects of life, not just scripts. Most writers have asked themselves at some point: Not only that, but what if one day I could actually write full-time and get paid, and it even became my job?”
Of course, writers can imagine positive outcomes, but most writers are even better at thinking of negative scenarios. “What if my script sucks?” “What if people find out I’m a crook?” Or the classic “What if I never work in this town again?”
Catastrophism and fixation on the worst possible outcome is not uncommon among my therapy clients with anxiety, and my writer clients are particularly gifted with it. is often Learning to tolerate anxiety and to move forward despite unpredictability is a valuable skill for writers. Because the writing industry is always unpredictable. Thankfully, people can find ways to develop this skill over time.
But when there are huge and very real stressors in your life right now, it becomes even harder to endure uncertainty. A complete work stoppage as multi-billion dollar companies refused to negotiate in good faith with unions and demand that they could get a practically livable wage at little cost. Triggered? It definitely fits.
So if the writers might have been anxious before they went on strike, but now there’s something really to worry about, what can you do? , taught by the Beck Institute, a leader in the field of cognitive-behavioral therapy. They believe that anxiety is generally caused by overestimating the risks of a situation while at the same time underestimating one’s ability to overcome it.
Now, when it comes to strikes, the risks are very real. It can negatively affect your career, not only in the short term, but also in the long term. Sure, some jobs and opportunities may never come back, and that can be scary.
However, you may also be underestimating your ability to overcome this. For most of her WGA members, it took years of hard work and effort to get into the guild in the first place. Similarly, continuing a career requires tenacity and resilience. That determination and grit shows you already have it, but it’s demanded both during the strike and after it’s over. Yes, your career may look different when it’s over. The entire field may look different. An industry-wide shutdown is difficult and scary, but it is also possible to survive. Especially considering what you’ve endured and survived (and sometimes even thrived on).
Speaking from my own personal experience, when the final strike began in late 2007, I had quit writing. That show in the 70’swas trying to secure staff at a time when “unscripted” reality shows were already eating up much of the network’s schedule. I was in the midst of a series of encouraging interviews as a late-night talk show writer when the strike struck, but the final interview had to be postponed until the strike was over. I was very supportive of the strike and co-chaired the strike because I felt it was necessary to gain a foothold in the emerging streaming world (then known as “new media”) for the future of my writing profession. I was directly involved in the guild as He served as a member of the Latino Writers Committee and as a strike captain for Paramount. But I also knew that the longer the strike lasted, the less likely I would be left with late-night work after the strike ended (and I was right).
So, mentally, it was a very disturbing time, with endless sleepless nights, too many free donuts on the picket line, and too many negative “what if” questions. Cardio with daily picketing helped relieve my stress a bit, but I certainly could have benefited if I was more mindful of my mental health.
I hope I can use my experience as a therapist to offer some tips that may help you deal with the daily emotional strain of the strike and tolerating the uncertainty during this time.
don’t keep everything inside
Talk about your feelings with a loved one, a colleague, and, if you feel it helps, a trained psychotherapist. Not everyone needs the last word, but most people benefit from voicing difficult emotions. A “talking cure” called psychotherapy is helpful for many people, but so is expressing your feelings regularly to someone who will listen to you seriously.
Now a group of peers are sharing their experiences of the strike, even if their version seems easier or even easier, it’s helpful to discuss. For most of us, it’s easy to share emotions when we’re feeling happy or hopeful, but it’s also important to express sadness, fear, and anger without letting those feelings bottle up. So if you have a friend or colleague you feel safe with, open up. When we choose to be underdogs, we actually have a better chance of being seen.
If you don’t feel comfortable talking about those difficult feelings to anyone, thankfully you’re a writer. A diary or diary, where you just write down how you’re doing on paper, can also help ease your feelings.
Practice self-compassion, especially if you’re an introvert
If you’re an introvert, admit that you may feel more drained during and after picketing each day than others. Indeed, for some writers, after years of using the Zoom writing room, being able to meet so many colleagues in person is a small silver lining in a very difficult time. It’s nice to see an old colleague again, to finally meet a colleague who’s been on Zoom for a year in person, and to discover that the writer you were talking to in the picket line was writing the show. loved growing up.
But for introverts, constant socializing can be exhausting. So if you are, consider some practical solutions. Take a break away from the crowds, find a quiet area to picket (you might want to volunteer to guard the neutral gate, where you can be alone or sit). You can) and listen to music with headphones on for part of the day.
Whatever you do, practice self-compassion and admit that picketing with hundreds of people in the studio every day can be harder than it is for others.
Be careful with alcohol and drugs
During the last strike, some writers I know suddenly became nightly regulars at local dive bars or started the habit of “waking up and burning” their morning cannabis. During stressful times, it’s easy to overindulge as a way to escape or escape from difficult emotions. Alcohol and other drugs are very popular all over the world because they certainly make most people feel good in the short term. However, they can also be detrimental to health and addictive.
If you are a regular alcoholic or drug user, you may want to consider intentional use. For example, if you start drinking a glass of wine and find yourself finished with a bottle, be careful. Also be careful if you drink or use drugs more often and develop tolerance. If so, consider withdrawing or abstaining.
Also, pay attention not just in terms of hangovers and lack of sleep (both of which are good reasons to eat less or quit drinking), but also how drinking or taking drugs makes you feel afterwards. How are you feeling the next day? Do you ever feel guilty or have growing worries or sadness? may result). For cannabis, smoking or consuming edibles can make some people a little uneasy. If you are, now is probably not the time in your life when you need to increase anxiety, so again, act intentionally.
And for those who soberly attend support groups, stressful times like this may be a good time to meet more often and seek support.
focus on what you can control
You can’t decide when the studio will offer you a fair deal and the strike will end. And that lack of control can cause anxiety. Instead, try to focus on what you can control.you can Always show up at the studio picket and through collective action you can create positive change for yourself and future generations of writers.
Outside of a strike, how do you like to spend your free time after family obligations and other ongoing responsibilities are over? There are classic self-care categories that put you in control. This includes not only the aforementioned drug and alcohol consumption, but also regular exercise, trying to sleep and eat well, meditation, and other age-old wellness practices.
And of course, another thing you can control is writing. Guilds have specific rules about what kind of writing is and isn’t allowed, and who can show your work. But is there a project you’d like to work on within those rules? It could be a personal project you’ve been waiting to get started on. Or maybe you want to try writing in a less familiar format, such as prose fiction. No matter what project you choose, giving yourself the satisfaction of writing on a regular basis is something you can control.
Don’t fall into the trap of comparing yourself
A final tip, if possible, is to avoid comparing yourself to other writers and how they are coping during strikes. During quarantine, many of us had one friend who was in the best shape of his life, wrote some pilots, and even learned how to play an instrument. Meanwhile, more of us were able to find some nifty backdrops for Zoom Cocktail Hour.
You probably have a similar friend (the same friend?) who seems to be more productive than you again in this new season of challenges. Hopefully, we can get to the point of “Who cares?” instead of comparing yourself to others and belittling yourself. If your way to get through periods of heightened anxiety is to be a little goofy, or if you only occasionally meet your planned self-care and writing goals, you’re probably fine. Blaming yourself for not being able to handle the same way as others during difficult times doesn’t help, but practicing kindness toward yourself always helps.
Whether you follow this advice or implement your own coping strategies, you might occasionally let your imagination run wild and ask devastating “what if” questions. Instead of dwelling on those negative possibilities, remember to ask, “What if I could remember my inner strength and do my best to take care of myself and be really okay?” please give me. It may not lead to a hit show that spans 19 seasons, but it might help get you through all of this.
Alan Dibner is a Certified Marriage and Family Therapist who specializes in treating individuals and couples in the entertainment industry. He worked as a sitcom writer before becoming a therapist, and after a freelance episode he entered the WGA, where he was assigned as a scriptwriter’s assistant on several shows before moving on to more long-term stay-at-home and staff work. found a job in That show in the 70’s. The son of Argentine immigrants, he co-chaired the WGA’s Latino Writers Committee for six years. He still smiles about Argentina’s World Cup victory.
