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The Lakota Sioux Indians judged the greatness of people not by the extent of their
accumulated wealth, but by the magnitude of their gift giving. So I want to give to you,
my friend, the greatest gift I can think of. I hope it keeps you through the long nights,
the bad reviews, the endless rewrites, and the questioning of self and skill. I hope it does
the trick when most of the other answers no longer seem adequate...
* * * * * * *
1) We are all screenwriters. We are all creative individuals. We are all artists.
Poets. The nature of language is inherently symbolic, representative. The letters
p-a-p-e-r are not equal to the glorious white stock I am now writing on. The word paper
is merely a metaphor, a symbol of the real object which we have come to know as paper. Thus, we
live in a world of metaphors, a never-ending swirl of poetry. Embrace the poetic. Never lose your
love for the lavender sweet smell of nouns and the salty crunch of adverbs.
2) Keep rewriting. Most of us don't get things right the first time around; don't fret, you
can rewrite your life as many times as you need to until you're happy with it. Like your main
characters, you always need to be growing, changing, developing. So, don't fear change, embrace it.
Be like The Flying Wallendas -- a family of trapeze artists who performed all over the world without a
net. Fathers and daughters, mothers and sons, always there to protect each other. To catch each other,
to support each other. Like the Wallendas, you need a family, some type of writing group or circle of
friends who will be there to support you if you start to fall. Armed with this support, stop hanging around
the water cooler, go out there, and walk the tightrope of life without a net. Do not fear challenges; instead,
fear safety, security and stagnation.
The question that then inevitably arises is, how do I go about becoming an official Flying Wallenda?
The answer is simple. First, keep your mind wide open. Most of the evil in the world originates from
ignorance and narrow-mindedness. Be broad in your thoughts, be accepting. Be like the reed at the water's
edge, bend with the winds, be sensitive to the world, but never let the bums break you. You'll see that if
you keep a window open, even on the coldest days of winter, you might get a bit chilly, but if you're freezing,
at least you know that you're alive! Right? RIGHT?
3) Create the rules for your world. As a writer, you can write anything, as long as you
clarify and fully understand the rules of the world that you create. In real life, the rules are
already set, but the more fully you understand them, the better chance you have of bending, shaping and
altering them to fit your own needs.
4) Don't give up, no matter how many drafts it takes. Yes. Life is hard. Sometimes things don't go
your way. Don't pull a Menendez and blow away your parents. Let it go, Eric. Move on, Lyle. Start a new
project. Keep writing. You are a writer and no one can take that away from you.
5) Enjoy writing a good sentence or scene. Take pleasure in the simple things and small moments in life.
Remember, so-called progress is not necessarily a positive thing and all technology is not inherently good.
Yes, you can always e-mail or fax someone, but how about walking over and interfacing, whoops -- I mean,
conversing with a real live person face to face? Yes, I know it sounds weird, but talking has been a successful
means of communication for thousands of years.
6) Floss.
7) Don't forget to throw in a little comedy. Life is hard and there's already more than enough drama and
tragedy in most people's daily existence. So, try to make people laugh and always be willing to laugh at
yourself. Believe me, if you've ever really looked at yourself, you have to admit, you're pretty funny looking.
And did you know, it's been scientifically proven that laughter will make you live longer? So, as Steve Martin
said, "Be thankful for laughter except when milk comes out of your nose."
8) The audience must care for your main character and that only happens if you care. In life as
in your art, try to be compassionate. Forgive others and, more important, forgive yourself. Life is too
short to go through it angry. Try to overlook the faults and negative traits of others. Yes, other people
are flawed and insecure, but so are you. Get a new hobby, Lee Harvey, and move on. Meanwhile, rejoice in
the passion and beauty of others.
9) Never look down upon others -- whether they are fictional characters or real people. Do not judge
people based upon their profession and/or social class. Find the humanity in everyone. Treat people as
if they all have something to offer and what you may find out is that many of them do. Smile a lot at
strangers and see how it freaks them out. After you've asked someone how they are, take the time to listen
to their response. Talk to your waiter, your pharmacist, your supermarket checker-outer person. When you
speak to them, make eye contact and treat them with respect.
10) Don't hand over your script too soon. I know it's tempting, but you only get one chance to make a
first impression, so make it a lasting and positive one. Especially in the film business where your script
will be covered and labeled forever, no matter how many times you rewrite it. So, don't rush important things.
Take your time. Beware of settling for second best. Beware of settling down. Settling in. Settling for.
Beware of settling. Resist our conformist market-driven American pack culture mentality that suffocates
the creative instincts and diversity of unique individuals. Don't run with the wolves if you were meant
to stroll with the great Galapagos turtles or fly with the falcons.
11) Expect to fail. Yes, once you have waited a certain period of time, you will have to hand your
script over to other people (#10), and there is a good chance that it will be rejected. That's okay.
Go ahead. Fail. Yes, you heard me, fail! Take the chance and be prepared to fail. It's okay. Happens to
the best of us. The only thing that differentiates winners and losers is that after they fail, losers give
up and winners try again and again and again. Ted Williams, maybe the greatest baseball hitter of all time,
had a batting average of slightly over 400 during his finest season. This, one of the greatest achievements
in all of sports history, means that six out of ten times that he got up to the plate, he failed to get a
hit. HE FAILED! He failed more than half the time and this failure comes from a man whose batting average
was the highest ever. So remember, there will be times when you fail and you are rejected -- both
personally and professionally. Don't worry, bubbele! A little rejection is good for the soul. Embrace
rejection. Use it to push yourself to achieve greater things. Remember, there are no wrong choices.
Failures are merely learning experiences that help us to get where we need to go.
12) What you write can and will have ramifications. Be careful of stereotypes, false
characterizations, and clichés. Always be aware of the ramifications of your actions and
take responsibility for them. As our society grows more and more bizarre, there is a natural tendency to
turn inward. Resist it.
13) If a scene or a line feels false, weird, or wrong, it probably is. So, when in doubt, don't,
whether that means removing a scene that you fear might not propel the story forward or removing someone
from your life who is not furthering your growth. We live in a godless age of moral relativism, but God's
a pretty smart cookie and knew that even though she gave us a brain that we could use to argue her out of
existence, she also implanted in us a little computer chip conscience that works with or without a
deity present. So if something feels wrong, it probably is. Don't do it.
14) Take the business seriously, for no matter how artistic you are, it is still a business.
Nature abhors a vacuum and so there are very few vacuums left today, especially good ones. Hence,
there is no room in this world for artists to live in vacuums. You are part of a world that is bigger
than your own head and social circle. Deal with it. Stay grounded in a pragmatic world view, BUT -- and
this is a big BUT -- realism breeds mediocrity, and I urge you not toward mediocrity but toward greatness.
There is a place for realism, but ask anyone who's ever achieved anything of value and they'll tell you to
forget the naysayers who are always screaming, "no you can't" and listen to Sammy Davis, Jr.'s
smoky baritone voice in your heart which sings out, "Yes I can. YES I CAN!"
15) Never lecture and beware of people who give advice.
16) In the end, your characters are determined by the choices they make, just as you are
determined by the choices you make. Thus, you and your characters must both make choices which
force growth. Expect very few things, but dream of everything. Don't forget to keep that window in your
mind open and then, when you become an official flying Wallenda, you'll never have to look down, you'll
never need a net, because you'll be flying through life held aloft by the memory of a professor who
loved you.
Zey gezunt.
As Always I remain,
Your teacher
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