| [BACK]
My Fellow Writers,
I know, I know -- another Wednesday column, and I'm supposed to be on Tuesdays. But the hard work continues, and we're just about to go to shooting tomorrow, so it's only going to get worse, at least temporarily.
I'm working out of town right now, and something has struck me in my time away from Los Angeles. I know that many people -- even veterans in the Industry -- are going to disagree with me. I know that others are going to think this is self-evident. But I've come to think that it's impossible to become a screenwriter outside of Los Angeles.
I didn't used to believe this. I thought that you could sit home and write your screenplays and do what you had to do. Not anymore. I'm around other professional writers every day, and it's still difficult to keep up with what's going on in the business.
That, combined with the fact that writing is, well, impossible, demands that you have complete and total immersion in the entertainment industry. You can't just commit most of the way, or let other things -- friends, roots, whatever -- get in the way. Because there are too many people out there who have the absolute compulsion to write, and they're coming to L.A.
Now, the good news is that the Industry will always need great scripts. So, if you have the compulsion, if you have something to say, and if you have the persistence, pack up.
I know I'm not being as persuasive as I can be -- and I wish I had the time to craft a stronger argument for this point. But suffice it to say that I wouldn't say this or prod writers to do this unless I believed it deeply, and saw lots of evidence to back up my opinion.
Next week, I'll talk about what to do when you get here.
For now, back to work with me. Then, eventually, back to L.A.
L.A. Expat,
Grady
|
