Recently I received an email from a working screenwriter who has been doing quite well for himself of late in Hollywood. I asked if I could excerpt some of his comments and he agreed:

With regards to your blog, what sells it for me: This is an industry and an occupation, as you know, that proliferates negativity. What writer hasn’t been told they’re not good enough, they’re not going to make it, they’re not what they used to be, etc. But your site always breathes positivity and empowerment. It pushes the writer to succeed and then tries to offer the tools to do so, and that is what makes it leaps and bounds more useful than anything on the web.



So that’s a real accomplishment and benefit to every writer out there facing this climb. And I would bet I’m not the only working writer who has drawn inspiration from your blog. I honestly don’t know how you do it, but thanks.

First off, thanks to this writer (who asked to remain anonymous so as not to irk other writing blogs he frequents). Although my focus here is on teaching the craft of screenwriting to aspiring writers, I know there are working writers, both in movies and TV, who track GITS. If any of you would be kind enough to email with your comments and suggestions, I’d greatly appreciate it. I’d also love to do more Q&A’s with working writers as GITS readers especially enjoy and benefit from those.



Second, I want to talk about a point made in the quote above — how I have a positive voice about writing in the face of negativity ingrained in the business, especially directed toward aspiring writers who face enormous odds against success.



Why do I have a positive attitude about writing?



First I’m a positive-minded person.



Second I love writing and stories, they are some of my deepest passions.



But the main reason I can maintain a positive perspective in blogging and teaching the craft of screenwriting is despite all the odds against me, I succeeded.



I was a complete outsider.



I had no formal screenwriting training.



I had precisely one connection in Hollywood.



And yet I co-wrote a spec script that sold to Universal Pictures for three-quarters of a million dollars, a sale that initiated a two decade long career in screenwriting.



In other words, I am a living, breathing example of what can happen. While I understand only too well the odds against becoming a screenwriter, I simply can not ignore the fact I succeeded.



And if I succeeded, then anyone can.



So when you read my blog posts and you get the usual whiff of “positivity” the anonymous screenwriter mentioned above, understand I am a positive-minded individual. I love writing and stories. But the biggest reason why I project a positive perspective is because I did it. I’ve done it. And I’m doing it.



If you have talent… if you have great stories to tell… if you are persistent… if you read scripts, watch movies, and write pages… there is no reason why you don’t have a chance of succeeding as a screenwriter.



The odds are long and against you.



But you have a chance.



Learn the craft. Practice the craft. And write the hell out of a spec script.



Oh yeah. And keep coming back to GITS for insight and inspiration.



I look forward to the day when like the anonymous screenwriter above, you will write me an email about your own success story.



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