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My name is Stephen Berger and (as you will see on my bio page) my approach to screenwriting is a little different. Now before I start to seriously explore the art, craft, and commerce of the screenplay biz, I'd like to clear out some of the garbage that seems to fill the heads of new writers. I've bagged up this garbage and collectively labeled it The Seven Myths of Screenwriting. This week we'll explore...
Myth No. 1: "You Either Got It Or You Don't."
This myth is the belief in new writers that if you've got talent (which most suppose they do) then your very first screenwriting effort will be the golden document that is not only a Great American Script, but will launch your glamorous and lucrative career as well.
The truth is a little less mouth-watering, but it has the advantage of being true. And while it's a fact that some people will never get the knack of writing, the rest of us (which I'm sure includes everyone reading this column) have to DEVELOP the talent we do posess. Therefore those first screenplays, even those that pop out of the printers of you talented lot, are going to be far from perfect, and only rarely (very rarely) will get you work. For most every talented, working writer the road to success is paved with a lot of writing that doesn't sell, isn't very good, and serves one single yet invaluable function: getting you to the point where you ARE good enough to sell your work.
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