Dear Craigslist,
I love you and am indebted to your indispensable services. I've bought and sold over three cars, found an awesome apartment with great roommates, and now have secured an internship as a result of simply checking up on new postings everyday and responding on a whim -- for free. All thanks to you! Although there are a few serial killers and scams floating around out there, I can attest that success can be had with enough persistence. Thank you for existing, you have improved my life tremendously :)
Forever yours,
Ben
Writing up coverage on a few scripts a week for three months is exactly what I need and it couldn't have happened at a better time. That first connection, even if it is an unpaid reading position, can sometimes be a crucial stepping stone to something more substantial afterwards. It's a great way to get your foot in the door for anyone just starting out just like myself.
John August (Go, Big Fish, Frankenweenie) has a fantastic podcast called Scriptnotes where he talks about doing exactly the same thing when he was just a beginner. His advice is totally on point with where I'm at. He and Craig Mazin (Scary Movie 4, Hangover 3, Identity Thief) offer an interesting perspective as Hollywood screenwriters along with plenty of useful tips. Needless to say I'm an avid listener and note taker... Check it out!
This is the home stretch. My final 10 weeks of college. I've miraculously managed to secure an internship and now I am prepping my own script for the Goldwyn screenwriting competition at the same time. Who knows if anything will turn out. I often wonder if I'm any good or at least competent, but just like everything else in life the only thing to do is to try my best and hope one day at least a funny story will come out of it :)
Congratulations on the internship. This is huge -- there was nothing like that available when I was coming down the stretch at UCSC. Every young person (except a supernatural genius like Orson Welles, of course) wonders if they're any good at their chosen field -- but you have to remember the Rule of 10,000 hours, which maintains it takes working hard at something (anything) for that long to achieve any true level of competence.
ReplyDeleteSo ask yourself -- just how long have you been writing screenplays?
The point is, you can't expect too much of yourself too soon. Almost everything in life seems to take a lot longer than it should, so be patient. Just keep working at the craft, writing, writing, writing, and the chops will come. You'll learn with every new effort. Maybe you'll turn out to be a protean genius -- who knows? -- but the important thing is to immerse yourself in the effort and slowly, steadily, improve. Sometimes I think the worst thing that can happen to any young person is to have big success early on. Catching lightning in a bottle is undeniably thrilling, but it can be hard to stay on the tracks with all that momentum. Ask Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, and Jimi Hendrix about the perils of early success.
Most of all, just enjoy this moment. It only comes around once...