So, in When To Quit Your Day Job To Write Full Time, Part 1 we discussed the fact that, oddly, many Pulitzer Prize Winning, and even Nobel Prize winning writers chose to work all their lives, regardless of their success in writing. Some enjoyed their day jobs too much to give them up, and some didn’t feel financially secure enough to quit 
and write full time.
I guess, maybe if I won a Nobel Prize, I might just say, screw it; I’m never going to top that, and go back to being a barista at Starbucks. Like I’m really going to be up for a Nobel.
A very important consideration in deciding to quit is learning how much writers get paid, when they first start out. You want to be informed about how much you’ll be paid when you sell your first script.
You’ll want to have a savings (at least enough to get you through 6 months). And you may want a part time job, or a go-to job, where they’ll let you in quickly if you need it.
So for a very important piece of the puzzle, here is how much money screenwriters currently get paid.
I’m talking about WGA union minimums, here. As of May, 2015, the highest range for writing an original screenplay (with a treatment) ran from $67,804 – $127, 295. That kind of money could get you through a year, if you don’t blow it.
Remember, though, that your agent takes 10%, and if you have both and agent and a manager, they may take as much as 25%. You pay union dues, and you pay taxes, the amount depending on whatever bracket you’re in.
There are a bunch of other categories that pay less. For example, original screenplay, excluding treatment or sale/purchase of original screenplay pays from $45,556 to $93,257. You might get through a year with that kind of money, too.
So if you felt like it, you could quit your day job for a year. In fact, if you get paid this much, I would definitely recommend quitting your day job so you can devote as much time to writing as possible. The better the first couple of drafts you write, the less the chance of your script falling into “development hell,” never to return.
If this movie gets out of development hell, and you don’t get rewritten too much, and your film gets financed and it’s a hit, you’re on your way. It doesn’t happen like that on the first sale very often, but if it does, you’re set for a few years anyway. If you keep writing great stuff, you may be set for life.
More than likely, if your script doesn’t get made, you’ll still get lots of agents who heard about your sale, take you out to lunch and want to sign you. If you get a good one, you’ll get more opportunities to pitch, write, or rewrite screenplays. Let’s hope it happens to you. Be careful, it might not.
Back to the money; keep in mind, the studios don’t just hand you a check for $93,257. You will get paid in a step process, so you’ll get a check for the outline or treatment (when you’re done), then another check for the first draft (when you’re done), and then another check for your first rewrite (when you’re done).
So even if you’re lucky and get that kind of pay for your original screenplay, it may sort of dribble in over the course of six months to a year. You’d be well advised to have enough savings in the bank to get you through several months.
The WGA pay for a half-hour TV script is currently $25,408, for story and teleplay. WGA fees for an hour teleplay are currently $37,368, including story and teleplay.
I doubt if you could live for a full year on the fee from selling a single TV script, especially considering agents and taxes. So, I wouldn’t quit my day job in that situation.
Still, selling one TV episode is a big deal. You will have agents all over you. Lots of great things will start to happen. However, like, I say, I wouldn’t quit the day job yet. I’d ask for time off from your day job, possibly a few weeks, or maybe even a month. You’d have to have a pretty good relationship with your boss, for him to agree to that. Or you can call in sick.
For a TV writer, a staff writer (a newbie) will generally make around $96,000 for a season (which is around 7 months). For anybody who makes it through their first season and gets promoted to Story Editor, they make around $157,000 for the same period.
Plus Story Editors and higher-ups, (Producers, Story Consultants, etc) get paid for the scripts they write on top of their salary (at least $157,000). So even second year on a TV show, we’re talking nearly $200,000 for 7 month’s work.
When I got hired on my first show, I was hired as a Story Editor. So I got paid for the year and for 6 teleplays. I definitely quit my day job as a bartender at that point.
And if you keep working on TV staffs, you get promoted to Producer, Supervising Producer, Consulting Producer, Co-Executive Producer, and the yearly salaries really go up drastically.
If you’re struggling to come up with a great idea for a screenplay, or if you’ve started one and just can’t figure out how to finish it, call for a free phone consult from a veteran screenwriter.
Image credit: Creative Commons Handle With Care 2014 by Felice DeNigrisn is licensed under CC By 2.0